Assassin series RE: Shattered Shells
by Askre5
Summary: They thought they had seen the last of him. Then the assassin returns and this time is not just involved with turtles from another universe but another reality as well. The TMNT must help another set of TMNT turtles from the assassin's clutches.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Story originally written and posted on. 24/04 2006

This is the third instalment in the Assassin's series

It's semi-sequel to "When the assassin strikes" and it is more of a sequel to "A Broken Hero." The 80's toon turtles are going to be in this one. But this is not going to be a humor oriented fic I'm afraid.

This story does take place few months after "When the Assassin strikes." And a few of years after "A broken Hero."

In regard to the 2k3 Turtles, this happens about somewhere in the third season of the 2k3 Show. For the 80's toon turtles, this happens sometimes after the eight season.

* * *

 **Disclaimer and Legal stuff:**  
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles®, including Raphael®, Michelangelo®, Leonardo®, Donatello®, April O'Neil®, and Splinter® are registered trademarks of Viacom International Inc. Based on characters and comic books created by Peter A. Laird and Kevin B. Eastman.

I do not own them in other words.

This story is written purely as a homage to the Teenage Mutant Turtles and not meant for any commercial profit or infringement on copyright. This story will immediately be removed if Viacom International wishes so.

Other characters, Including Tony, Luna, Michelle, Drerra, Sinda and Akre are © Hermann Gunnar Sigurðsson (Askre).

AU turtles in all their variety are based off the TMNT.

All species including, Ulfarians, Rytonas; rymskas are © Hermann Gunnar Sigurðsson (Askre).

The story, is copyright © 2006 by Hermann Gunnar Sigurðsson (Askre).

 **Warning: This story will contain, violence and torture. Implied and perhaps mildly described adult situations. If you don't like to see characters suffer this is not a story for you. If you are of a sensitive mind, then you have been warned. Story is rated T**

 **This story is canon to the Assassin series.**

 **This story is part of the Main story line of the Assassin series and is the 3rd official long instalment.**

 _Sum: They thought they had seen the last of him. Then the assassin returns and this time is not just involved with turtles from another universe but another reality as well. The TMNT must help another set of TMNT turtles from the assassin's clutches._

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

The city was quiet for the most part, as it was usually late at night. Nobody noticed the four shadows jumping from rooftop to rooftop, with cat like agility and incredible speed.

Leonardo was leading this run, he and his brothers had been cooped up inside the lair for so long that he felt it was time for an exercise run. Splinter had agreed. Raphael and Michelangelo were especially dangerous once suffering from cabin fever, Raph with his temper and Mikey with his boredom.

The four turtles landed finally on a rooftop of a large apartment complex and paused for a breath. Leo did some stretch exercises but his brothers were content on just relaxing.

"Man it's good to be out of the lair for a change," Raph commented were he was perched on a ledge, looking over the city.

"I agree," Donatello said walking over the rooftop towards the other side of the building. "But with all the cold weather lately I'm glad we haven't been out much. Brrr."

"Aw, I wished it snowed." Mikey pouted and looked over the ledge were Raph sat.

"Well, it's only September, it will come." Leo smiled and stopped his stretching. "But it's still a little nippy, maybe we should move on to keep warm."

"Heh, I'm all for that." Raph grinned and jumped from the ledge. Mike shrugged and the two turtles walked to their brother. They turned to were Don was staring over the ledge at the other side.

"Yo Don, we're going," Raphael called. Donatello only glanced back, a shocked expression on his face.

"Guys," he said in a sharp whisper. "Tell me something. What's black and green and talks with Leo's voice?"

"Black and green and talks with my…" Leo stopped when it hit him. "Voice."

"You're kidding me." Raph ran immediately to their purple clad brother and so did the others. They all froze at the sight at the next rooftop that was lower than the one the turtles were on.

Down there was the familiar figure of Leonardo's counterpart. Clad in his trademark black clothing with the katana and the rifle on the back and utility belt around the waist. The assassin was not alone. He was holding a long chain, fastened on the other end was a mutant turtle.

The chain tied the turtle by the wrists and he struggled fiercely against the black clad one. Leonardo's counterpart growled and yanked at the chain trying to bring his captive closer. The other turtle barely held his ground and shook at his bonds desperately.

He was unfamiliar to the other four turtles, seemed to have a slightly wider beak and the carapace and plastron looked slightly different. He was dark green but not as dark as Raphael.

"How many times do we have to get rid of that guy, he's almost as bad as the Shredder," Mikey commented.

"Yeah and like the Triceraton invasion plus meeting that wacko Bishop wasn't enough. Now we have to deal with this guy again," Raph growled and put one foot on the ledge, preparing to jump.

"Well, we have taken him before." Leonardo grunted and grabbed his katanas. His brothers did the same with their weapons.

All four turtles jumped over to the next rooftop. Their arrival didn't go unnoticed. The assassin looked around when the first turtle landed and sneered when he recognized them.

"Oh just perfect, you had to escape over here," he growled and yanked harder at the chain. This time he managed to trip the turtle that fell to the pavement. The prisoner looked up and when seeing the newly arrived he yelled:

"Help me! Please!"

"You four better stay out of this," the assassin snapped, his voice almost ice cold, but all four turtles had their weapons ready for attack.

"I'm not sure we can allow you to take this turtle, he doesn't seem to want your company," Leo said with a frown.

"Yeah, so just hand him over and we might not bother to kick your ass again." Raphael added and poised with his sai. However, it appeared that the black clad one wasn't exactly in a good mood, he rolled his eyes and reached for his single katana.

"Remember guys all at once, not one on one." Leo reminded his brothers and then with a yell all four turtles jumped forward.

The assassin sneered; he glanced at his prisoner quickly before letting go of his sword and decided to book. He was gone over the next rooftop before Raphael and Leonardo who were the fastest, reached him. The four turtles would have given a chase if they hadn't seen the portal open that swallowed their black clad enemy.

"Blast," Raph growled.

"Well no use pouting over his escape," Leonardo said and walked towards the chained turtle. His brothers followed and soon were surrounding the stranger.

"Oh thank you… thank… WHOA!" The turtle's jaw dropped when he saw Leo. "Y-You look exactly like him."

"Well, that's a long story." Leo grinned uneasily and raised one katana. "Hold still."

The turtle looked away and reached out with his tied hands. The sword went down and broke the chains easily. Relieved to be free, the former prisoner began rubbing his wrists and glanced around.

"Wait a minute…" he stood up and looked at each of his rescuers. "Orange… blue… purple…red and the weapons… don't tell me, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael."

"Eh yeah that's right." Leonardo raised an eye ridge in surprise that the turtle guessed their names correctly.

"How many are there," the unknown reptile muttered eyeing skywards but then he froze. "Oh no, the traveler."

Before they could say anything, the mystery turtle broke out of the circle and ran over to the ledge of the rooftop. He immediately grabbed for the fire escape and almost flew down it.

"Hey wait up!" Mikey called after him, he hand his brothers followed the stranger and spotted him in the alley frantically searching for something.

"Oh no, where is it? I know I dropped it here somewhere," he muttered and scoured the ground.

The other turtles came jumping down to the alley, wondering about this strange turtle. As soon as Donatello landed he noticed a familiar calculator looking device, he picked it up and walked to the searching turtle.

"Are you looking for this?" he asked. The turtle looked up and his eyes opened wide when seeing the device.

"Yes! Thanks." The stranger stood up and was given the device. He hugged it tight. "Oh thank heavens I thought I lost it when that bastard napped me on the rooftop."

He looked at all the four turtles who now all stood in front of him. Leonardo walked forward.

"You seem to know our names, but we don't know you," the blue masked ninja said.

"Oh that, sorry, I just guessed the names based on the color of your masks and your weapons," the turtle explained grinning nervously. "I figured you had to be yet another set of counterparts."

"Another set?" Don raised one eye ridge. The unknown reptile sighed and continued to clutch the traveler like a security blanket.

"Yeah, you see my name is Raphael. I'm his counterpart." He pointed at Raph whose mouth opened slightly and his eyes opened wide in surprise.

"Ookay." Mikey scratched his head; he could see no resemblance between this Raphael and his except sharing a name.

"Eh trust me; I know it's weird that I don't even look like him. I don't fully understand it myself but it has something to do with different realities," the completely naked Raphael said with a shrug. Don nodded but his brother's didn't notice it. He recalled the hobby room he had seen when captive of the assassin, where he had seen different looking Leonardos.

"Why don't you come with us to our lair, we can talk more comfortably there. And you can tell us why the assassin had you in chains," Leo suggested.

"Sounds like an idea," Raph's counterpart said looking nervously around.

* * *

"Like I said, my name is Raphael and like him I have brothers called Leonardo, Donatello and Michelangelo," the mysterious turtle began his explanation. He was sitting the couch and still held his traveler device. Leo and Raph stood in front of him, Mikey sat also in the couch but Don was in a nearby chair. Splinter sat in his recliner.

"Like you we are ninjas and carry the same color." Raphael stopped and glanced at the other turtles' gear. "Although we wear more of it, as well we usually have buckles on our belts with the first letter in our names."

"That's sounds so cool," Mikey said with a wide grin.

"Hey otherwise people would never tell us a part." Raphael smiled weakly before shrugging. "But even with all that gear, people confuse us"

"Anyway, we usually don't have to worry about other dimensions aside from one were our usual enemies come from," the turtle continued, the smile dropping. "But few years ago we kind of got tangled with that black clad turtle you guys rescued me from."

"So you guys have met him before?" Leonardo frowned heavily; Raph's counterpart nodded grimaced a bit at the memories.

"Believe me it wasn't pretty. Leonardo, my Leonardo that is, had the 'honor' of meeting him first. He went out to pick up pizza for dinner and he disappeared. We found him three weeks later, he had been kidnapped by the black masked maniac," Raphael told them. All four turtle cringed.

"Yeah, we were told that he does that regularly, goes after his own counterparts." Leo gulped. "Like he did with me."

"You were kidnapped by him too?" Raphael asked shocked, the blue masked turtle nodded.

"But I didn't stay for that long, well it's a long story, let's finish yours first." Leo said shrugging off his own memories.

"Well, like I said. That idiot kidnapped our Leonardo, held him captive for three weeks. Forced him to viciously spar with him and…" The turtle shuddered. "He raped him."

You could hear a needle drop. All the mask-wearing turtles stared slack jawed at their guest. Leonardo finally took a step back, his whole body shaking. Donatello cringed as he recalled the hobby room again and all the pictures of other Leos.

"I-I need to sit down." Leo gulped and almost fell over but Raph grabbed him and helped him sit down on the floor. Almost subconsciously, the blue wearing ninja reached to grab his carapace where it peeked over the shoulder.

"Ok I don't know if we have said it before, but that guy is sick!" Mikey gagged.

"Yeah and wait until you hear the best part," Raph's counterpart said getting everybody's full attention once more.

"He came back two months later to challenge Leonardo on a rematch." The turtle pointed at a scar on his right shoulder. "And he gave me this nice reminder; I couldn't move my right arm for days."

"Leonardo won that rematch and apparently the assassin disappeared for good. At least we never heard from him again," Raphael continued and shrugged. Then he rolled his eyes. "Until few days ago."

"We were on a patrol and Michelangelo was goofing of on a rooftop ledge, I have to admit the guy was pretty funny there," the un-masked turtle chuckled, surprising the other turtles slightly.

* * *

 _"Hey dudes check this out." Michelangelo was using only one hand to keep him self up on the rooftop ledge. Then pushed up and spun in the air, landing on the ledge on one foot. "Ta ta!"_

 _"Pretty good." Raphael applauded so did the rest of the turtles. The M-wearing turtle took a deep bow. Suddenly he jerked and lost his footing._

 _"Michelangelo!" Donatello who was the closest darted forward. Using his Bo he just about managed to wedge it under his brother's belt and kept him from falling. The purple clad turtle then dragged their now unconscious sibling back to the rooftop._

 _"Good work Donatello," Leonardo said as he and Raphael came running._

 _"Not good." The D-wearing ninja gasped and pointed at something on their brother's neck. It was a dart._

 _"W-what?" the blue masked turtle frowned. "Who could have…?"_

 _However, Donatello winched suddenly and glared at his shoulder, another dart was sticking out there. With a grimace, the turtle fell over Michelangelo's unconscious body. Leonardo and Raphael stared down at their brothers in shock._

 _"Ok, who keeps missing his dartboard here?" the red clad one asked frowning and looked around. He gasped and tapped Leonardo's shoulder._

 _"What is…" Leonardo turned and his eyes bulged out. "It?"_

 _"Hello again Pretty Boy." the assassin stood on the rooftop ledge smirking evilly._

 _"You!" the L-wearing turtle growled and drew out his katanas, Raphael pulled up his sai. "What are you doing here?"_

 _"Funny thing what I do for the right price," the black masked turtle said with a devious grin. The other two stared at him confused._

 _"I was paid a rather large sum of money for collecting four mutant turtles wearing different colored gear and letter buckles," Leonardo's counterpart explained and aimed his dart gun at them. "And I was to do with them as I pleased."_

 _Leonardo dropped his katana swords from his trembling hands, his breathing was accelerating and he took a step back. His eyes were open wide in terror._

 _"Leonardo," Raphael said sternly. "You are stronger than this."_

 _"I-I… I… No… I can't go back… no…" Leonardo shook his head frantically. Then he jerked his left arm, a dart was stuck there. "NO!"_

 _"Oh great, not that I wouldn't have want him to shut up, but that was not what I had in mind," Raphael grunted and turned back to the assassin. The L-wearing turtle had already fallen unconscious to the ground. He swiftly threw one sai aiming it at the gun._

 _The assassin quickly jumped aside and fired. Raphael tried to move out of the way but was just too late. The dart hit his leg. He fell to the ground and the last thing he saw for a while were pair of green feet wearing black sandals approaching._

* * *

"I don't blame Leonardo for freaking out there. I mean the assassin was threatening to take him back to that hell hole he had been in for three weeks," Raphael said with a slight growl.

"He was paid to collect you and just do what he liked?" Leo frowned. "Well I admit I would believe something like this on him."

"So how did you escape?" Mikey asked. Donatello had stood up and gone to his workstation but he returned just before Raphael had a chance to answer.

"I have signaled the Magistrate and his brothers, but it might take awhile for it to go through," the purple clad one said and sat back down.

"Magistrate?" Raphael looked at Don slightly confused.

"We have dealt with the assassin twice as well, the second time we met his brothers whose duty is to stop him if he's messing around in other dimensions," Leonardo explained. "The Magistrate is actually your counterpart."

"Oh ok. Well anyway we all woke up in a large stone room, probably the next day I would guess," Raphael continued.

* * *

 _"Ow my head." Raphael slowly opened his eyes. He heard slight whimpering and looked up. The turtle found his hands tied behind his back and the room was too dark to see clearly. He did notice though that all his gear had been removed._

 _"What the… what's going… oh yeah." The usually R-wearing turtle remembered and slowly got up to his knees. He was aware of somebody beside him and noticed where Michelangelo was slowly waking up, naked as well._

 _"Oh man, I feel like a surfboard that has been too long in the sun." The normally orange clad ninja complained as he rose to his knees._

 _"You know, for once I can't think of a single joke to answer this one," Raphael muttered and tried to look around again. "Michelangelo, can you spot the others?"_

 _"Huh, I think Donatello is here beside me," his brother answered and cringed. Donatello was lying completely still. "And he isn't looking to hot."_

 _"He isn't… oh crap he's allergic or something to the drug, remember? Or at least it doesn't work well with him." Raphael tried to stand up and very unsteadily did so. He walked closer but the chain restrained his movements. Then they heard the whimpering._

 _"Leonardo?" both of them whispered. Tthey got only whimpers in response._

 _"I can just about see him, he's lying up against the wall," Michelangelo said. "I think he's shaking."_

 _"Gee, you think so? And here I thought he was shouting in joy," Raphael grunted and tried to spot his usually blue clad brother. "Leonardo please answer, be strong brother."_

 _"I-I…I can't bet here… no…no … I-I can't be here… please go away… leave me alone…no…no…"_

 _Raphael cringed when hearing the terrified and broken voice of his sibling, the one turtle that usually could face anything. He was now no doubt reliving his three weeks of hell so many years ago, time he still bore the scars of._

 _A door opened and they could see when the black clad turtle walked in. The room was again pitched in darkness when it closed but very shortly later, a lamp was turned on. The assassin turned smirking towards his four prisoners, although only two of them stared at him angrily._

 _Now Raphael could see where Donatello still lay unconscious and Leonardo almost hugged the wall, trembling and whimpering._

 _"Hm, only three of you awake, I used the same type of dart on all of you," the assassin said and walked to Donatello and crouched down in front of him._

 _"Hey leave him alone you creepazoid," Michelangelo snapped and tried to get closer but the chains stopped him._

 _"The drug doesn't agree with Donatello's system, he's allergic or something," Raphael retorted. "I swear if he dies I'm going to…"_

 _"You're going to do what?" The black masked turtle cut his prisoner short. "He's still alive, don't worry. I'll just give him an antidote."_

 _He reached for a pouch on his utility belt and drew out of it a vial full of some bluish liquid. Out of another he drew up a syringe, he filled it with the liquid and then promptly injected the content into Donatello's arm. He then returned everything into a single pouch._

 _"Well looks like Pretty Boy is not having much fun." The assassin turned his attention to the whimpering form nearby._

 _"You leave him alone!" Raphael snapped and strained his chains the best he could._

 _"Did miss something? I recall you were the prisoners," the black clad one said with a devious smile. Then he moved swiftly to Leonardo._

 _"LEAVE HIM BE YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Raphael roared, he and Michelangelo tried to break their bonds but both fell down at a sudden dizzy spell._

 _"I wouldn't try much for the first two hours or so after being so newly awoken from the drug." The assassin warned them with a smirk, he turned his attention to the whimpering turtle._

 _"There, there Pretty Boy, it's alright," he said soothingly gently caressing Leonardo's head._

 _"No…no…. leave me alone… please," the frightened ninja whispered and tried to curl up in a ball._

 _"Shh it's alright," the assassin hushed him and continued to gently caress him on the head._

 _"Hands off you bastard!" Raphael growled as he rose up again after recovering. But his captor ignored him._

 _"Ow…what hit me?" a voice mumbled. Slowly Donatello regained consciousness. The formerly D-wearing turtle slowly rose up to his knees. A bit confused as he felt his hands were chained, then looked around._

 _"HOLY!" the ninja shouted when he spotted the assassin close by. Donatello jumped back a bit._

 _The assassin stopped trying to calm Leonardo down and stood up. As he backed away from his prisoners, he regarded the four turtles carefully. Raphael and Michelangelo stared back with angry glares, Donatello was still shocked and Leonardo still hugged the wall whimpering._

 _"Well as you probably know by now, you are all four my prisoners," the black clad one said._

 _"W-wait… why are we prisoners?" Donatello gulped, not liking this one bit. The assassin smiled very wide._

 _"I was paid to capture and imprison you all four, I got a very heavy sum of money for it in fact. I am to do with you all as I see fit." What the black clad turtle said did not ease the usually purple clad turtle's nerves._

 _"Now the question is who paid you?" Raphael snapped. The assassin tilted his head a bit regarding the usually red masked one._

 _"I think you actually know him and should be able to guess." The black clad turtle started to laugh. Suddenly he picked up from his belt a very familiar looking purple communicator._

 _"That looks like one of…" Donatello gulped. "Krang's communicators."_

 _The communicator switched on and they stared at the disembodied brain alien. The evil warlord cackled in glee when he saw the four chained up turtles._

 _"So I have finally found the perfect way to get rid of you turtles." Krang gloated over the comm.-link. "Sure the Technodrome is still in Dimension X. But when I return to Earth with it, I will be comfortable in the knowledge that you won't be there."_

 _"I should have known," Raphael grunted and pulled at his chains._

 _"We destroyed the engines, there is no way you will be able to return to Earth on it," Donatello frowned. The brain alien laughed even more._

 _"Currently you are right, Donatello, but in two years or so my Rock soldiers will have finished repairing the damage you did. In two years time I will be supreme overlord of Earth. And you little turtles will be emotional wrecks in the hand of my new friend here," Krang claimed chuckling._

 _"Save it slime ball, we don't plan on staying here for two years," Raphael shouted and tried once more to break free._

 _"On the contrary," the assassin said and smiling deviously. "I plan on keeping you for much longer than that."_

 _"You must be a real idiot to accept a job from Krang. He always double crosses everybody," Donatello claimed and grinned thinking he scored a valid point. However, Krang only chuckled and the assassin laughed._

 _"Donny-boy I have been in business for over ten years. Don't worry about me," their brother's counterpart said and then turned the communicator so the alien brain faced him._

 _"You have done very well Leonardo. As agreed you can pick up the second half of your payment at the designated coordinates," the warlord explained._

 _"Thank you Krang, it was a pleasure doing business with you," the black clad turtle said._

 _"Oh no Leonardo, the pleasure was all mine." Krang laughed before cutting the comm.-link._

 _"I still think you're an idiot for trusting him," Donatello claimed, his brother's counterpart looked at him smirking._

 _"Of course I don't trust him; Krang is no different than any other warlord or crime boss I've taken jobs for." The assassin chuckled while belting the communicator._

 _"However in my line of work you take a hefty down payment first, which he paid. However we'll see about the second half of the payment." With those words, the black clad turtle disappeared out of the room._

 **End chapter 1**

* * *

 **A/N:** Things sure don't look bright eh?

And this is only the first chapter. Don't worry, we will get darker.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 25/04 2006

I always write the full names of the 80's Toon turtles, since in the old show they rarely if ever use nicknames for one another. This will be especially apparent as the story processes and all the 80's toon-Turtles are in the same area and the 2k3 toon turtles. Then I'll only use the nick names for the 2k3 Turtles, except if it is Splinter who is addressing them.

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Raphael had fallen silent and just fingered his traveler device nervously. Slowly the turtle looked up and eyed each and every one of them. There was sadness in his face and regret. He opened his mouth as if in an attempt to continue but closed it, a sorrowful sigh escaped from his lips.

"I'm sorry," the mask-less turtle finally whispered. "I just… what happened later…"

"Hey its ok dude." Mikey put a hand gently on his carapace. "Just say it on your own pace."

"Leonardo, prepare some tea for our guest," Splinter told his blue clad son. Leo nodded, stood up from the floor and darted to the kitchen.

"So who is this Krang?" Donatello decided to divert the attention a bit, allowing Raphael to recover from his memories.

"Well… he and our version of Shredder are teamed up together. Trying to conquer the earth," the gear-less ninja explained. "They usually used a giant mobile fortress that was called the Technodrome. Several months ago my brothers and I disabled it permanently and stranded both Krang and Shredder in Dimension X. Krang's home dimension."

"I guess Krang must have found a way to fix it, but apparently it will fortunately take a while. I still have plenty of time to free my brothers," Raphael then said and closed his eyes. "And probably rehabilitate them."

"What do you mean by that?" Mikey asked confused, his brother's counterpart glanced at him.

"My brother Leonardo returned from the assassin as a wreck, a shadow of his former self. It took him over two months to recover enough to somewhat return back to normal. But even after few years he still could break down if reminded of those three weeks," Raphael explained to the orange-masked ninja. "It's already been few days since we were captured. We were still just getting small samples of what was in store for us."

Leo returned with a cup of tea. He gave it to the mask-less turtle who accepted it. For a moment the turtle just sipped on his drink, calming himself down. The others waited patiently for him to continue.

"Shortly after…shortly… I mean," he gulped and finished from the cup. "Shortly after he showed us who paid him to kidnap us, he separated us. He moved Michelangelo first, then Donatello. I don't know where he took them, I never found out. He moved me next."

* * *

 _"Hope you like your new home," the assassin said as he threw Raphael into a small cell. A thick transparent plastic door closed it._

 _"What the? What is this supposed to be?" the dark green turtle asked as he rose up. He could stand and lie down in it, there was a small ventilation shaft high up in the ceiling._

 _"You'll find out soon enough." Black clad one smirked and left the large room the cell was in._

 _"I don't plan to," Raphael grunted and hammered his fist on the door. "YEOWCH!"_

 _"Not good idea, not good idea." The winched and shook his sore hand. "Ow, ow, ok new plan."_

 _This time the turtle tried to kick but again cringed in pain. The door was simply too strong and now he had both a sore hand and a foot. Slowly the ninja sat down in his cell, staring out and gritting his teeth._

 _"I have got to get out of here," he muttered and looked around. The walls were white inside the cell, but outside in the large room they were dark red._

 _But he couldn't do much and had to wait for a while. The turtle was getting stir crazy, only a human would occasionally appear with food for him. Raphael had no idea how much time passed but had to guess at least two days._

 _The cell was mostly soundproof. At least it was very hard to hear anything from outside. The usually witty turtle was starting pace around his cell, wondering if he was just supposed to rot in it alone._

 _Finally something did happen but not what he would have liked. The door to the large room opened and the assassin walked in. Raphael sneered but froze when seeing the turtle that came in after Leonardo._

 _Even when the turtles were mask and otherwise gear-less they could still tell each other apart. The usually red clad turtle instantly recognized his brother Michelangelo. However, there was definitely something wrong._

 _The carefree ninja looked utterly lost. Raphael frowned when his brother began wandering around, confused expression on his face. The assassin disappeared into another part of the room were Raphael couldn't see him._

 _"Michelangelo!" The normally R-wearing turtle started to hammer his fists on the door, calling his brother's name._

 _Michelangelo continued to walk aimlessly around the room lost and confused. Finally he seemed to notice his brother and approached the cell. Raphael swallowed a rising anger. There were cuts on the other turtle's arms and scars after needles._

 _"Brother?" Raphael addressed him. Michelangelo stood in front of the cell, but he looked past his sibling. Finally, he put one hand on the plastic door._

 _"What has that bastard done to you?" the usually red-clad turtle whispered and put his own hand on the door, so it was in front of his brother's. The once carefree turtle started to look around the cell, as if he was examining it. The confusion never left his face. It was as if he wasn't really there._

 _"AAAAH!" suddenly Michelangelo screamed and backed away from the cell. Fear was now in his eyes._

 _"Michelangelo, what's wrong?" Raphael asked confused and pressed himself up against the door. "Brother, speak to me!"_

 _"Noo… please… I don't want this…" the other turtle pleaded and suddenly ran off out of sight._

 _"MICHELANGELO!" Raphael called after him and sunk to his knees, gritting his teeth in anger. "What has he done to you?"_

* * *

Mikey jumped in the couch when there was a crash. Leo and Raph cringed and Don rose up from the chair and hurried to his brother's counterpart. The mask-less turtle was gritting his teeth. He hadn't even noticed when breaking the porcelain cup with his right hand, crushing the shards in his balled up fist.

"Michelangelo, get the med-kit," Splinter ordered quickly and the orange-clad turtle jumped up hurrying towards the infirmary.

Don knelt down in front of Raphael and gently took the now bleeding hand; carefully he had the turtle open his fist. However, the mask-less turtle didn't seem to have realized that he had injured himself. He just stared forward gritting his teeth, closing his eyes tight to prevent tears from coming.

"Ok it's not as bad as it looks," Donatello muttered, there was in fact only one cut, though few shards were buried now in the skin.

"Wha… huh?" Raphael opened his eyes as if he had just woken up. He stared at his injured hand surprised. "What?"

"You crushed a tea cup," the purple masked turtle explained to the mask-less one with a frown. "You don't remember it?"

"I-I… no I don't." The turtle gulped and started to look around the room. "I don't know what happened… but I sometimes get blackouts."

"Come, let's get this cleaned up," Don said standing up and so did his brother's counterpart. At that moment Mikey came running with the med-kit.

"Give it to me." Donatello grabbed the small metal box and then pulled the mask-less turtle after him to the bathroom.

Mike ran into the kitchen to fetch a broom to clean up the remaining shards of the floor. Raph and Leo turned to look at Master Splinter who was heavy in thought.

"You know, he still hasn't answered how he escaped," the red-masked ninja mentioned.

"Maybe he doesn't remember." Leo suggested. "You just saw it; he crushed the cup without even noticing and didn't even remember doing it. Maybe he's just telling us what he does recall; maybe he's hoping he will then remember it."

"I believe Leonardo might be right, he does seem to try and be as detailed as possible. In fact there is a possibility that he and his brothers have been prisoners for longer time than few days," their sensei said and was stroking his muzzle thoughtfully. "And maybe he just only remembers those first few."

"Master Splinter." Leonardo gulped. "That could mean they might have been there for weeks."

"Months," Raph growled.

"When did we meet that assassin dude last time?" Mikey asked after having returned the broom to the kitchen and was back in the entertainment area.

"Well… of course, he can't have caught them at that time, it must have happened some time after that," Leo said and glanced at his red masked brother. "Did you notice that the assassin ran with a slight limp?"

"Yeah. Say, his brother, the black wearin' Donny fractured his leg or somethin'," Raph recalled, Leo nodded in agreement.

"That might explain why he didn't put up more of a fight, he is still injured in the leg or at least it hasn't managed to heal properly yet," Leo mused and stood up. He began pacing around as the blue clad turtle thought.

"Ok, it's been about nine months since we last met him. The assassin was injured so it's at least one or two months that he couldn't possibly go and hunt four trained ninjas." he started brainstorming.

"Well, he did use his dart gun." Mikey chimed in and Leo nodded in agreement.

"Ok, that of course means he doesn't have to fight that much. Yet, he still would want to be in top form, or as close as he could be before going after them. Then there is of course when this Krang contacted him to offer him the job." the blue clad one continued his train of thought. "I would say there is at least seven months since the kidnapping could have occurred."

"Seven months is a long time," Raph grunted.

At that moment his counterpart and Don returned from the bathroom. The mask-less turtle's right hand wrapped in bandage. He smiled apologetically as he sat down again in the couch.

"I'm sorry, I… well like I said ,I sometimes just sometimes have blackouts, one moment I'm doing this and before I even know it I'm doing that instead, with no memory of what I was going there between. I don't remember when this started to happen." Raphael's smile dropped and he became sorrowful once more.

"That is quite alright," Splinter said regarding the apology. "We understand, this must be very difficult for you."

"Raphael." Leo addressed the mask-less one who looked at him. "I don't want to make you feel any worse. But if we take your blackouts into consideration, chances are that more time has passed than few days since you were kidnapped."

There was a long very uncomfortable silence as this information sunk into their guest. Raphael's eyes slowly opened wide and his jaw dropped. The turtle's hands began to shake badly and he looked at them, there was mix of shock and horror on his face.

"Y-y-you're right," he whispered. "I-I-I could hardly c-c-count the days. I-It could have b-been months."

"Seven at most, since nine months ago the assassin was dealing with us." Leo felt rather guilty for giving this shocking revelation to their guest, but he would have found out eventually anyway.

"Then there is no telling in what kind of state his brothers are in," Don mentioned, the others agreed. Safe for Raphael who still stared at his shaking hands, the tears were now going freely down his cheeks.

"Raphael, do you remember how you escaped?" Splinter asked their guest. The mask-less turtle closed his eyes tight and bowed his head. His fists were clenched tight.

"No," he whispered so low that the others almost missed it.

"What do you remember?" the old rat inquired.

Raphael laid his hands in his lap but didn't look up. His features relaxed a bit, but then he grimaced as if the turtle was suddenly in pain.

"Flashing light… buzzing sound… pain… PAIN!" he shouted the last word. The turtle would have jumped up, but Mikey who again sat next to him on the couch grabbed his shoulders to hold him down.

"Whoa, whoa easy there," the orange-masked turtle said. His brother's counterpart covered his face with his hands and sobbed audibly.

"I think this is enough for now," Splinter said and prepared to stand up. "Donatello, when do you believe we will hear from the Magistrate?"

"Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after that," Donatello told him. "If I understood what my dogi wearing counterpart told me, they can get busy with other things too. It isn't their sole job to hunt down their brother; they have other duties as well. Chances are we will only get an answer from my counterpart."

"Then we can do nothing but wait. We better allow our guest to rest," the old ninja master said.

All eyes went to Raph's counterpart. He had stopped sobbing and his hands were again resting in his lap. The turtle was leaning forward staring dejectedly at the floor. Mikey was patting him reassuringly on the carapace and trying to cheer him up.

He was offered a room, but the mask-less turtle wished to sleep on the couch. He wanted a wide-open space all around him. Therefore, the furniture was unfolded to form a bed. Everybody then decided to retire for the night, hoping for an answer soon from the assassin's brothers.

However, Raphael, the formerly R-buckle wearing ninja, didn't have a very restful night. He tossed and turned in the makeshift couch bed, whimpering as the haunting memories of his imprisonment invaded his dreams.

* * *

 _"Where are my brothers?" Raphael growled. He sat up against the innermost wall of his small cell, in front of the door stood the assassin._

 _"They're around." The black-clad turtle shrugged and pressed a button on the outside. The door opened._

 _Raphael sprang into action, jumped up from where he sat and charged. He never got far. Suddenly a force field appeared right in front of him and the turtle collided with it. He screamed when the painful electric current ran across his body and he slumped down to the floor._

 _"Hm, this button works," the assassin muttered smirking. He lifted his hand from the panel were he had just pressed the button to activate the energy field._

 _"Thank you for testing the security methods of my new prison cell. It's still in testing stages, but I have never really had a chance to test it. Until now that is." The black clad one snickered._

 _Raphael groaned and tried to stand up. His body protested heavily and the turtle gritted his teeth at the searing pain. He opened his eyes and stubbornly got to his knees. Then a flashing light forced him to avert his gaze, it continued to bother him and the turtle tried to look away, but no matter where he looked the light continued to flash in his eyes._

 _"Oookay, no idea what this is for," the black masked turtle muttered and stopped pushing that particular button._

 _The naked turtle blinked and tried to focus, but the flashing light had caused him a headache and he kept seeing spots. Then came a sound, sounding like something was buzzing or drilling nearby. Raphael cringed and tried to cover his ears but no avail. After a minute the sound was really giving him a bigger headache._

 _"Stop… stop this," he pleaded._

 _"Yeah, it's rather annoying," the assassin said and lifted his finger of a yet another button. He proceeded to pick up a vial from a pouch on his belt, then fetched syringe from another one._

 _"Now I don't know really how this stuff works. Your brother's counterpart, ex-Emperor Donatello of Turtotopia, created it. It has something to do with the mind," he said while filling the syringe with the liquid from the vial._

 _Raphael looked up and immediately scrambled further inside the cell when the assassin approached. Tthe black-clad turtle was swift and grabbed his arm. The prisoner tried to struggle, but his captor was too strong and fast. He was injected with the liquid before he could do much._

 _The assassin stepped back and watched as his captive grabbed the spot were the needle had been injected. Raphael was cringing at the pain that was now coursing through his body; he curled up in the corner of the cell. His breathing began to accelerate._

 _"I recall him saying it has something to do with the memories, hm." The assassin began stroking his chin thoughtfully. Then snapped his fingers as a thought hit him. "It probably came with some notes."_

 _The black clad turtle left the cell and closed the door to it. He disappeared out of the large room. Meanwhile Raphael was having a hard time trying to control his breathing, his eyes were wide open and he clenched his teeth._

 _Memories of the past suddenly began soaring through this mind, but it was all in utter confusion and chaos. There seemed to be no order. It was making his head spin. He finally shouted out:_

 _"THIS IS WRONG! THIS IS WRONG!"_

* * *

Raphael woke up and almost flew out of the couch. He sat in it breathing rapidly and shivering. He looked at his hands wide eyed, they were trembling badly and he had no control.

Closing his eyes, he managed to slow down his breathing slowly and steadily, but he didn't stop shivering. The turtle wrapped his arms around himself and looked around. The lair was not pitched in darkness; there was an emergency light Don had installed. As well as few crystals in the ceiling seemed to emit faint enough light.

 _Why did I think only few days had passed,_ he wondered while standing up hesitantly. The ninja began slowly wandering aimlessly around.

 _I hardly even remember escaping… I just remember running, I think I hit something. I stole that traveler from somewhere… I think. Then I just ran and ran._ he walked past Donatello's workspace rubbing his arms.

 _Then I was on that rooftop, he grabbed me, chained me and then tried to drag me off. Then these other guys came._ Raphael stopped when he was in front of the doorway to the bathroom.

He didn't go in, instead he walked to the center of the lair towards were the pool was. He crouched down in front of the edge and stared down into the deep dark water. Even though it was dark, he could see his reflection. A very sad and dejected turtle stared back up at him.

Hugging himself tighter, Raphael dropped his head and closed his eyes. A single tear escaped down his cheek. The drop fell from his face and landed on the still surface sending small rippling effects through it.

"Why can't I remember?" he whispered.

"What is causing these blackouts?" The turtle lifted up his bandaged hand and stared at it. Slowly he began removing it, revealing the long cut in his palm and the other minor ones after the shards. The wound was still fresh but had stopped bleeding.

"My brothers… probably scarred worse than this… Michelangelo." Raphael felt a lump form in this throat when he recalled his cheerful brother. "Michelangelo… what I wouldn't do to hear you shout 'Cowabunga' now."

"And bake your favorite pizza…" The turtle dropped his hand. He then remembered his two other brothers.

"Donatello… I don't even know what he's done to you… I would give anything… anything to have one of your inventions blow up all over the place." He tried to swallow the lump and felt the tears coming again.

"Leonardo… oh god Leonardo… you're probably the worst off… I hope you are alright brother… that bastard had better not have…" Raphael fell silent. He knew there was no use for idle threats. The turtle didn't notice that the bandage dropped down to the pool.

He stood up and began the aimless wander once more. The ninja didn't really notice it but he approached the dojo area of the lair. Stopped in front of the training dummy and stared blankly at it. He lifted one hand and gave it a gentle push; it went back and forth a tiny bit.

Raphael then approached the punching bag and didn't notice when he bumped into it. He stopped for a moment and spotted the weapons rack. His head tilted a bit to the side when spotting the sai on it. A small smile crept over his beak.

He walked over to the rack and carefully lifted one of the sai. It was one of his counterpart's spares. It didn't have a ribbon woven around the handle. The name 'Raphael' was carved in the wood, but it was misspelled as it actually said 'Rafiel'.

It was obviously an old one, yet the blade was polished and sharp. Raphael felt this strange satisfied feeling to be holding a familiar weapon. However, it all vanished when eyeing the rack again; he saw a nunchaku, a Bo and a katana. That just all reminded him of his brothers and their predicament. He gritted his teeth hard and tightened his grip on the sai with his left hand; his right was balled up in a fist.

A noise from somewhere caught his attention and the turtle swiftly turned. He wasn't careful and his carapace slammed right into the rack. It fell with loud noise. Raphael cringed and turned back again, he stepped forward intending to lift up the shelf. However, the turtle caught his foot in it and fell face first down, creating even more noise.

The once red clad ninja cringed at a stabbing pain in his right hand. As he was rising, he noticed that there was blood on the sai that was still in his left hand. Raphael sat on his knees and saw that the weapon had cut into his right palm during the fall. A small trail of blood was slowly crawling down the middle blade.

He stared at the sai almost mesmerized, his gaze then went back to his right hand. The palm had now a small puddle of blood in it. The turtle looked back at the weapon, then he lifted it up and with a growl was about to stab his bleeding hand.

The sai never fell. A very dark green hand grabbed his wrist; the weapon was forcefully ripped away and thrown across the room. Raphael looked up only to stare at his very own counterpart. Raph looked both shocked and confused, yet there was a gleam of concern in his eyes.

"What the she…" The very dark green turtle didn't get further, suddenly it was like his counterpart lost all control of his movements. He started to flail around uncontrollably.

"Get him away from the rack!" Donatello called from the upper level. "Lay him down on the ground but DON'T restrain his movements."

Raph was quick to do as he was told. Pulled his naked counterpart away from the rack and laid him on the floor. There their guest continued to flail around on the floor.

"What the shell is goin' on with him?" the red masked turtle growled when his purple-masked brother came running.

"He's having a seizure, just don't restrain his movements," Don said and pushed the rack and anything else close by and could be move further away. "And get the med-kit."

Raph nodded and stood up. Don was careful to keep a slight distance so his brother's counterpart wouldn't hit his moving arms on him. The olive-green turtle counted the seconds, if this seizure lasted for too long they would have a big problem.

Fortunately, it only lasted for few seconds. However, Raphael didn't seem to be waking up, so Donatello quickly knelt down beside him and moved him into a recovery position. He laid him carefully on the side locking the arms and legs in position, moved the head so the mouth was downward. His brother then returned with the kit.

Don cleaned the wound on the palm of Raphael's right hand and then put bandage on it. When he looked up he noticed that Leo, Mikey and Splinter had arrived as well, questions burning on their faces.

"What has occurred here?" the old rat asked.

"Damned if I know," Raph grunted with a frown. "I just woke up by that a loud noise and when I went out to investigate, I saw him about to impale his hands with one of my old sai."

"I think it won't be just his brothers who need rehabilitation," Don muttered, he still knelt beside the unconscious turtle with one hand on his shoulder. "Looks like Raphael here is in dire need of help himself."

"If we…" Leo halted and frowned, there was no doubt in his mind what had to be done. "I mean, when we go and rescue his brothers. Do you think he'll be in any condition to help?"

"I doubt it." Donatello shook his head. "He might in fact suffer a serious relapse from any recovery if he were to return to where they are being held. No matter in how good shape he thinks he is."

It was then a portal suddenly opened in the lair. It appeared right above the bridge that went over the pool. The turtles and Splinter all looked at it, a bit startled at the sudden appearance, but everybody relaxed when they saw the black clad shape that came jumping through it.

Standing up from his crouching position was Ninja Master Donatello, clad in his black dogi. The facemask was over his head and you just barely saw his hard stare underneath the yellowish goggles. His Jo staffs as usual were on the back, forming an X. The mute turtle put his right hand in his open left palm and bowed briefly.

"Ah Donatello, welcome to our home," Splinter greeted while returning the courtesy bow.

 **End chapter 2**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 29/04 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Raphael woke up gasping for air, for a moment he just lay on his side before rising up. He looked around but wasn't quite sure where exactly he could be. The room wasn't big, but not really small either. There was equipment in it that reminded the turtle of what would be found in a hospital though it looked like it had been built from scratch.

He sat upright in the bed rubbing his right temple tiredly. His last memory was walking around the lair of those who rescued him. The turtle glanced at his right hand and frowned, he clearly remembered removing the bandage. This looked fresher and there was more of it.

"Hey you're a wake," a cheery voice addressed him. Raphael looked at the doorway and saw Mikey peeking in, broad smile on his beak.

"I-I guess," the mask-less turtle muttered, the orange-clad one walked in briskly.

"I was told to see if you were awake. If you were I was supposed to offer you some breakfast," Mikey informed him, but then his smile dropped slightly and he frowned a bit in concern. "So you ok dude?"

"I think so," Raphael whispered looking again at his hand. "W-what happened… I just remember waking up last night and then walked a bit around the lair."

"So you don't remember when you tried to stab your hand?" Mikey asked him, the other turtle looked at him startled.

"I did what?" he gulped. The orange masked ninja got a chair and sat down near the bed.

"Last night, you crashed the weapon rack. Raph just barely stopped you from impaling your hand with a sai," Mikey explained to him. "You don't remember anything?"

"No… like I said, I get those blackouts," Raphael whispered and was now very worried. This meant he could end up killing himself without even realizing it.

"So is he awake?" a rougher voice asked. In the doorway now leaned Raph. When the red-masked one had their attention, he walked in.

"I-I'm s-sorry… I didn't mean to… I don't even remember," his counter part stammered.

"Hey don't worry about it," Raph waved his apologizes off and grinned. "I guess spendin' several months with that wacko might drive you a bit crazy."

"Heh, right," Raphael chuckled weakly but his small smile dropped suddenly. He looked at Mikey and then his counterpart. "I don't know why… um, I had a dream… I think it was a memory… the assassin, he mentioned a name."

"Oh?" The orange-masked glanced at his red masked brother but then turned back to the other turtle who was nodding.

"I… it's hazy but he was talking about an emperor, ex-emperor, then he said something about Donatello." The mask-less one shook his head and looked at the other two turtles. He was quite surprised to see the shocked look on their faces.

"Ex-Emperor Donatello," Raph glanced at Mikey who nodded.

"Wait… you know who he meant?" their guest asked surprised. Both turtles nodded slowly and cringed at the memory. The red-masked one shuddered when remembering how he had been forced to see certain events of his life differently. His orange-clad brother recalled how he had been mind controlled and forced to do things against his will.

"Yeah, ex-Emperor Donatello of Turtotopia, we've met him," Raph said with a slight growl in his throat.

"Seriously freaky dude," Mikey mumbled.

The two turtles then proceeded to tell the turtle about the events that happened now nearly two years ago. Told him how Don had switched with his emperor counterpart, Raph was blackmailed to keep his mouth shut after discovering pretty much the truth, Mike got mind control chip implanted and Leo was kidnapped by the assassin who switched places with him as well.

Raphael listened to all of this wide-eyed in surprise. The turtles then continued the story with the events nine months ago when the assassin had struck again. However, this time they met his brothers, whose job was to try and stop him.

"We finally got contact with one of them," Raph said in conclusion, his orange-clad brother nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah, we told him your story and he went to investigate before we take the next action," Mikey added.

"We? Next action?" Raphael raised an eye ridge. His counterpart grinned and the other turtle smiled even wider.

"Why rescuing your brothers of course, we are all in agreement. We're gonna spring them out," Mike announced. Their guest became even more wide eyed.

"Wha? No… wait, I could never ask you to…" He began to protest, but was waved off again by his counterpart.

"Ah forget it. We got nothin' better to do. Beside we have some serious payback to deliver," Raph claimed.

"Besides, us ninja turtles have to stick together." Mikey grinned and nudged his brother's counterpart gently. "Now how about some breakfast."

"I would love having a pizza right now," Raphael said almost with a dreamy sigh. "Sashimi and pepperoni with some garlic."

 _Whoa pizza for breakfast? I think I can learn to like this Raphael,_ Mikey thought, a bit surprised but not displeased by the breakfast choice. Raph on the other hand wasn't quite as sure what to think when hearing this.

"Sure, I can probably whip up a deep pan for you." The orange masked jumped up. "I don't know if we got anything to make sashimi though, but I do know we got pepperoni and garlic."

"If ya feel up to it you can come out." Raph offered to help his counterpart to stand up. "Donny just had you moved here to be able to monitor you, after your seizure."

"I had I seizure?" Raphael gulped as he accepted the help and climbed out of the bed.

"Yeah, not a bad one though, but shortly after you almost nailed your hand with my sai," Raph said with a slight shrug.

 _God what is wrong with me,_ Raphael thought almost falling back to the bed with horrified expression; he had one hand on his forehead. His counterpart put one hand one his shoulder.

"Ya ok? Maybe you should lie down again," he suggested but the mask-less turtle shook his head and rose up. Mikey was already out of the infirmary heading straight for the kitchen.

The two remaining turtles walked out and the mask-less one took a moment to stop and look over the lair. He really hadn't done it when arriving yesterday night and when he had took his walk it had pretty much been in darkness.

"This place is pretty large," he noted, Raph halted as well when his counterpart did.

"Yeah, offered whole lot of space when Master Splinter found it. We each got separate rooms and we have much more room for practice, heh Donny had a field day fixin' the place up from the start. And he's still improvin' it," the red-masked one said. He then eyed his counterpart. "First your up and waitin' for your breakfast, want the nickel tour?"

"Sure." Raphael nodded. Before they started, Leonardo approached the two.

"Are you feeling alright? You gave us a bit of a scare yesterday night," the blue-masked ninja asked with concern on his face. His brother's counterpart looked at him and was about to answer, but then froze. For a moment the blue mask was black and the worried frown was now a sadistic smirk.

"Ah sorry," Leo slapped his own forehead when he saw Raphael's face. "I forget sometimes, we share physical appearance."

"No that's ok, I… I just," the mask-less one shook his head when he realized what had happened. A hand was laid gently on his shoulder and he stared once more at concerned Leo.

"Don't apologize or excuse yourself. I fully understand… I sometimes can't always look myself in the mirror. I don't particularly enjoy the fact that I wear the same face as him," he explained to their guest. Raphael just nodded and managed to produce a slight smile, but he was still nervously rubbing one arm.

"Hey we are all out of flour." Mikey came running out of the kitchen, but was still smiling. "But don't worry, I called April. She said she had an extra bag for me, I'm going to pick it up."

"Wait Mikey, we shouldn't go alone," Leo called after him. The orange clad turtle stopped at the entrance.

"Aw come on Leo, I won't be long anyway." The orange masked turtle protested.

"Your brother is correct Michelangelo," Splinter said as he walked out of his chamber after morning meditation. "Don't forget that the assassin will be on the lookout to retrieve our guest."

"I'll go with you Mikey." Leonardo jogged towards his brother who just shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"Jeez it's not like I'm going to battle the Foot Clan or something," he muttered as the two turtles disappeared out of the lair.

"That's not the point Mikey, you haven't fought this guy. He is dangerous to tackle alone," Leo told him as they ran through the sewer tunnels.

"But I'm the Battle…OW." Mikey rubbed his sore head after being slapped by his blue-masked brother.

"Don't tempt me to make you face him alone, then let's see how much of a champion you are," Leo growled and skidded to halt when seeing that Mikey had come to complete stop. He was still rubbing his head but stared a bit surprised at his brother.

"Whoa, that was angry, even for you Leo," the younger turtle said. Leonardo rubbed his forehead tiredly as he dropped his head.

"Sorry Mikey, it's just that… I have fought that bastard twice already. Both times I have always had this nagging feeling that he held back. I don't know why, I just think he does." The blue-clad one sighed and looked up towards his brother.

"Mike, this guy was cold hearted enough to cut out the tongue of his own brother. He tried to blow them and you guys up, remember that old factory? He planned for them to be there when it imploded. Fighting him won't be like at the Battle Nexus Mikey, there won't be any honor or fair fighting. He fights to win and he uses every dirty trick there is. You saw how he reacted when facing all four of us, he bolted instead of taking the chance, especially since he didn't have his dart gun and had a limp," he told Mikey.

"How do you know he didn't have his dart gun?" the other turtle asked.

"Isn't it obvious? If he had the dart gun, you think he would have bothered to be dragging Raphael across the rooftop in chains?" his brother said with a slight grin. "Ok let's not keep April waiting for us."

Mikey shrugged and they continued their journey through the tunnels.

* * *

Donatello was busy working on his computer when Raphael and Raph approached him. The two turtles had finished going around the lair showing it to the mask-less one.

"Yo Donny, any word yet?" the red masked one asked.

"Hm?" Don turned around still deep in thought. "What? No, he hasn't contacted yet."

"So you doing ok?" the purple-masked one asked turning his attention to Raphael. The turtle seemed a bit more relaxed now, though there was still worry in his face.

"I'm feeling better yeah… still wish I could remember what I was doing last night. As well as why I'm having these blackouts and memory problems," he whispered and shook his head.

"He told Mikey and I that he heard the assassin mention a familiar name, Emperor Donatello ring a bell?" Raph asked Don whose eye ridges rose high.

"Unfortunately yes," he muttered and glanced back at his brother's counterpart. "You remember in what context he said that name."

Raphael sat in a nearby chair as he thought it over. His brow sunk into a heavy frown as he tried to recall his dream. He was sure it was a memory flashing by and not just some random nightmare. He finally looked up at Don who patiently waited for an answer.

"I dreamt and I think it was a memory," he muttered and rubbed his right temple. Then told the best he could about his dream. Raph ground his teeth when hearing what the assassin had done to his counterpart.

"He then mentioned this emperor… and picked up a vial full of something, drug I think. Said it had something to do with the memory," Raphael explained and shook his head. "The rest is too hazy."

"Shell! You think he has some the emperor's stuff?" the red masked turtle asked shocked and looked at his equally stunned brother.

"I-It's quite possible; he did break into his lab many years ago and had Donatello work for him nine months ago." Don gulped and turned back to the computer and began typing.

"His brother, the cyborg gave me some of his scientific notes that were still available. Mostly just to satisfy my own curiosity on how he created some of his less gruesome experiments. I think I have the files about his memory drug he used on you Raph," the purple clad one continued to type furiously. Raphael looked up at his counterpart.

"You were drugged too?" he asked, the red-masked one put a hand on his shoulder and nodded. Raph was cringing at the memory.

"Remember when I told you how I woke up strapped to a table. Well the emperor used a drug to force me to see events that happened before differently. I basically got a front view on how I could have brain damaged my brother and even kill him, the worst part was it made it look almost like it actually had happened," the very dark green turtle explained.

"Raphael, try to remember. In that dream, after you were injected with the drug, did your breathing accelerate and did you suddenly lose all control on your thoughts. Your mind began racing through your memories on top speed?" Donatello turned back to the other turtles.

"Ah… uh... yeah I think so," Raphael shrugged. "But it's very hazy, but yeah I guess."

"Raph, he was injected with the memory drug." Donatello gulped and turned back to the computer and read from the screen.

"Beginning effects are as follow: Accelerated breathing and the brain begins showing the subject memories of the past on a very fast pace but in no specific order."

"Ok, so what is wrong." Raph noticed that his brother was very worried. "I got it too, I'm fine."

"That's because the emperor talked to you, he coaxed your mind to show specific things while the drug wore out," the purple clad one told him and then looked at Raphael. "Did the assassin talk to you at all?"

"Uh… no… he left me I think," the mask-less turtle shrugged.

"Just as I feared." Don returned to the screen. "Side effects of the drug are none if the subject is talked to and its mind is made show specific memories while the body cleans the drug out. That can be done by either talking with the subject or use the Thought Process Analyzer."

"And if neither is used?" Raph frowned, he recalled Don mentioning that Thought Process Analyzer but didn't think much of it.

"Side effects occur only if the subject is left alone and by itself after the injection of the drug and/or if the Thought Process Analyzer is not used. The side effects are as follow: Blackouts, memory problems and occasional spontaneous seizures. The subject usually seems to forget at least five minutes of its memory before a blackout. The subject does seem to have a clear memory of it's past and up to the point when the drug was injected into its body." Donatello whistled after finishing reading and once more faced his brother and their guest.

"I guess we found out why you are having memory problems and blackouts," he said with a sigh. "I'm sorry."

"I-Its ok… I guess it isn't surprising," Raphael muttered.

"No way to cure it?" Raph asked frowning. Donatello shook his head no.

"There is no mention of cure. You have to understand Raph; the guy who made this wasn't interested in that. He was only interested in the results," the purple-clad one sighed heavily.

* * *

"Watch that you don't drop that flour bag," Leo shouted as he and Mikey leaped over an alley gap. "And let's hurry; I don't want to be up in the daylight more than necessary."

"Yes mom," the orange-clad one chuckled while following his brother's lead. Under his right arm, he tightly held a bag of flour.

Leo shook his head smiling as he landed on a rooftop and prepared to run across it. He was just about to continue on when suddenly a strange feeling came over him. It was a very familiar one, as if they were being watched and followed.

He started to run but heard the whistling sound a second too late. Pricking sensation hit him in the left shoulder, feeling for it his eyes opened wide in shock. It was a dart.

"MIKEY!" He shouted out but then he fell unconscious to the pavement.

Mikey skidded to halt and froze when seeing his brother lying still on the roof. As he ran to Leo a familiar figure suddenly landed on the rooftop some distance away. The orange-clad turtle halted and his eyes opened wide.

"Hello Mikey." The assassin grinned wickedly as he rose up and was holding in his hand a familiar dart gun.

"You." Michelangelo quickly threw the flour bag away and pulled up his nunchaku. However, he was worried, last time he faced the black clad turtle he had backup. Now he was definitely alone. In truth, he had never fought him.

"Now I figured you guys would come up one of these days. Though it is of course harder to tell after you removed all of my surveillance gear." The assassin walked closer and holstering his dart gun. "Of course I wasn't expecting it to be so early."

"We are not handing him over if that's what you think," Mikey said and started to twirl his weapons. "Not without a fight at least."

"I didn't expect otherwise." The assassin smiled and pulled out his single katana. "But you know, I wasn't going to demand him back, nah that's so cliché."

"Huh?" The orange-clad one was now close to his unconscious brother but stared at the approaching turtle confused.

"Instead I was going to demand a replacement," Leo's counterpart said with a slight shrug. He stopped and pointed at Mikey with the sword.

"You," the turtle said and then gestured to Leo with the sword. "Or him."

"What? You're crazy," the orange-masked turtle said but the assassin narrowed his eyes, never dropping in the smirk.

"Fair trade I would say, turtle for a turtle." The black masked one chuckled a bit. "It's your choice Mikey, you can come or your brother."

"How about neither," Michelangelo grunted and jumped forward preparing to attack.

"Figured that would be your response." The black-clad turtle rolled his eyes.

They began the battle, Mikey tried to swing his nunchakus at his opponent but the assassin saw through it, ducked and dodged out of the way. The orange-masked ninja was used to be the fastest and most agile of his brothers, but he was unprepared to how fast and agile this Leonardo was.

For a moment the orange-masked one figured he could disarm his opponent. The assassin was only using one sword after all. He swirled one 'chaku and tried to wrap it around the blade. The assassin saw through the trick and swiftly jerked his sword up. Mikey was unprepared for that and his nunchaku slipped out of his grip and was thrown across the roof.

 _Crap._ The blue-greenish turtle was now only holding one of his weapons.

Their battle continued and Mikey had to admit that Leo could be correct. The assassin did seem to be holding back a little, almost as if he was allowing this fight to be fair. The ninja tried a spin kick but the black-clad one side stepped out of the way and then hewed with his sword. Mike just barely managed to use his own weapon to block it.

Michelangelo wasn't very sure if he would win this fight, they had already fought for a while and there didn't seem to be much end in sight. The assassin didn't even look tired and the whole time always had that devious smirk on his beak. His limp didn't even seem to bother him at all.

Suddenly the black-clad turtle did something Mikey was completely unprepared for. The orange-masked one was about to slam down with his nunchaku, hoping to hit his opponent in the head with it. The assassin didn't duck or dodge; instead he moved forward shooting his arm out. The chain-stick weapon wrapped around his forearm and the turtle jerked it to the side, disarming the ninja.

The assassin was still moving forward and suddenly did a sweep kick. Mikey was too late to react, still stunned at the previous move; his feet were suddenly in the air as his carapace collided with the rooftop. Before he could even begin to stand up a sandal clad foot was planted on his plastron and a sword tip was at his neck.

"T-that could have broken your arm dude," Mikey said stunned, his nunchaku was still wrapped around his opponent's arm. The black-clad turtle glanced at it and shrugged.

"It would have," he said nodding in agreement. "If you had used more force Mikey, yes then it would have. But you were swinging the nunchaku simply to knock me down not out, thus you weren't using full force. I'll have a sore muscle for a couple of days but nothing too major."

"Now Mikey." the assassin stared down at him smiling wide. "I am still going to give you a choice, just because I'm in a good mood."

"I would hate to see you in a bad mood," the orange masked turtle muttered, his brother's counterpart leaned a bit down, his smile much more sadistic.

"Yes, you would hate to see me in a bad mood." he agreed and rose up again. "So what is it going to be Mikey. Should I pick you or your brother Leo?"

"I guess none, is not an option," Mikey asked and wasn't surprised that the black-masked one shook his head. Trying not to be cut by the sword, the orange-masked ninja glanced where his brother still lay.

"What's to stop you to take us both?" he wondered. The sword moved a bit down to tap him on the plastron edge before moving back to the neck.

"That's a chance you just have to take Mikey. As you correctly pointed out, there is nothing to stop me from taking you both. But I'm still giving you a choice, you or Leonardo," the assassin said.

Michelangelo stared up at the duplicate of his brother. He bit his lips and eyed Leo before glancing back up. He recalled Donatello's story about his captivity, as well as he remembered Leo's account of his imprisonment. Then there was what Raph's own counterpart had told him and his brothers.

"What would you do to me?" Mikey asked warily. Again the sword tip was used to tap the edge of his plastron.

"Ah, ah that's a surprise," the assassin said wagging his finger.

"What would you do to Leo," the orange clad ninja wondered and cringed at the look he got. The smile on the black-clad turtle was devilish and there was greed in his eyes.

Mikey glanced back to his unconscious brother; he gritted his teeth and closed his eyes tight. Then the orange-masked turtle took a deep breath. _Forgive me Leo and don't blame yourself._

"Me, take me," he whispered. Mike still didn't open his eyes but he could hear some rustling. Then he heard a low whistle sound and there was a prick in his shoulder. Shortly later, everything went black.

The assassin holstered his dart gun and sheathed his sword. The turtle crouched down beside Mikey and began removing everything off him. He rose up again holding the orange-clad one's Shell-Cell. He operated it and pushed a speed dial button.

"Donatello, is that you Mikey?" the voice of the purple-masked ninja answered.

"Not quite Donny-boy," the assassin said and chuckled at the stunned silence.

"You and Raph had better come and pick up Leo; he won't be waking up for the next 24 hours or so. And tell Raphael that I won't be looking for him, I decided to just even things out by taking Mikey instead," he said in the phone. "Leo is on a rooftop at 6th and Boyle, you might want to hurry up, daylight and all and he could be spotted."

The black-clad turtle didn't give Don a chance to answer. He hung up the phone and threw it away. Then he plucked up his traveler and operated a portal, the assassin picked Mikey up and carried the formerly orange-clad turtle through the gateway.

Soon it was only Leo and Mike's scattered gear that lay on the rooftop.

 **End chapter 3**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 01/05 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 **2k3 TMNT-world**

"WHY? WHY DID HE TAKE MIKEY?"

The roar was echoing through the lair. Raphael flinched and curled up in the couch in front of the TV monolith. The mask-less turtle had decided to keep out of the way once Leo had woken up and the news was broken to him.

"WHY NOT ME? I'M HIS COUNTERPART!"

They didn't have to wait 24 hours to wake up the blue-clad turtle. Ninja Master Donatello had arrived around lunchtime. The dogi-clad turtle had an antidote for the assassin's knock out drug. Once Leo was woken up, he was brought to Splinter's chamber to be told as gently as possible what had happened. Because they knew he wouldn't take it too well.

Raphael glanced nervously towards the closed doorway to Splinter's room. Donatello was just fleeing from it, grimacing and looking uneasily back as he approached the entertainment area.

"I guess he's steamed?" the mask-less one wondered.

"That's the mild description yes," the purple-masked turtle muttered and stopped near the couch. "I knew he would flip when hearing this, he has started to take things regarding the assassin personally, but man. Master Splinter is trying to calm him down, but he completely lost it the moment we told him the assassin kidnapped Mikey."

"I wish this hadn't happen… your brother shouldn't have been traded for me… he shouldn't have to suffer what my brothers and I have gone through," Raphael whispered trying to restrain his tears and sobs.

"Hey, it's alright. We do not blame you. The assassin is a cruel bastard, I know it myself," Don said as he sat beside his brother's counterpart. He patted him reassuringly on the carapace.

"I shouldn't have asked for pizza for breakfast… t-then he wouldn't have had to go fetch extra flour…" Raphael continued. Donatello held back a sigh; he realized that the turtle was in a very fragile state of mind and that it wouldn't need much to upset him. Especially considering what he had to go through.

"Raphael, it is all right," he said gently keeping a hand on Raphael's carapace. "Mikey practically lives in the kitchen. He would have found out anyway that we needed flour. He would have gone immediately when finding that out, whether he was making pizza or something else."

They turned around when hearing the door to Splinter's room slide open and forcefully closed again. Raph had left the chamber and the red-masked turtle stalked towards his punching bag. Once there he began viciously punching and kicking it, giving a roar each time or shouting a curse.

"Raph is being calm compared to Leo," Don explained, they continued to watch the furious workout. "Master Splinter and my mute counterpart are no doubt trying to calm Leo down, by meditation or something."

"If they can get him to sit down first!" Raph growled having heard what his brother had said. "He's pacing like a caged animal. I DON'T blame him!"

The door opened again and this time it was Leo who walked out, though stalked was more like it. The fury on his face could hardly be described. The blue-masked turtle's eyes were narrowed as he took few short steps out of the doorway before halting. Right behind came the black-clad Donatello and Master Splinter.

"So you have no idea where he could be?" Leo asked looking at the dogi-wearing turtle.

"W-what does he mean?" Raphael looked at Don who shrugged.

"Guys we have a problem," Leonardo said, he was straining to sound calm.

"What is it?" the purple-clad turtle asked, Raph didn't stop for a moment in his vicious attacks on the punching bag.

"It seems that the assassin cannot be found in his mansion," Master Splinter answered eyeing his Donatello. The purple masked frowned; he recalled the assassin's house too well.

"Donatello here went to the assassin's mansion." Leo gestured to the black clad turtle. "There were no sign of life what so ever. There was no security running; in fact it almost looked like he had moved out."

"W-wait mansion? It looked more like a ranch when he dragged me to that cell," Raphael chimed in. All eyes were instantly on him, the mask-less turtle sunk down in the couch. "S-sorry… I just figured… never occurred to me he lived in a mansion."

"No, no it's ok, we just all assumed," Don said calmly and looked at his black-clad counterpart. "Does the assassin own a ranch?"

The Ninja Master shook his head but then began rubbing his mask covered chin thoughtfully. After a moment he began moving his hands in complicated signals. The purple-masked turtle's brow sunk into a frown.

"W-what did he say?" Raphael asked.

"He said that he wasn't aware that the assassin owned a ranch, but he could try and find out. But it could take awhile," Don gritted his teeth. "And the longer we take the longer Mikey and your brothers are in the assassin's clutches."

"This just gets better and better," Raph growled from the punching bag and finally kicked it so hard that he tore the fabric. Muttering and cursing the red-masked one freed his leg from the destroyed bag.

"Could things get any worse?" he then retorted glaring at his ruined punching bag.

* * *

 **Assassin's world?**

Mikey groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. He felt a slight pressure on his body, like restrains though his movements weren't hindered much. In fact, when the turtle shifted it was like they loosened slightly and then wrapped around him again.

He opened his eyes and received a shock of a lifetime. Clinging tightly to him was another turtle, very similar in appearance and Raphael. The stranger was apparently sleeping and had his scarred arms and bruised legs wrapped around him.

"GAH!" the usually orange-clad turtle shouted and quickly pried off the very unwelcome intrusion to his personal space. That seemed to wake up the other turtle.

"Uh- wha? Oh sorry." he quickly scrambled off and as far away as he could, but it wasn't very far. They were in a small white cell; the door was transparent and seemingly made of plastic.

"Ok, unless you are a very deep voiced babe, don't do that again," Mikey said trying to calm down his rapidly beating heart.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," the other turtle whispered and was now hugging his legs tightly. "I was just so cold… and… and you were warm… and… sorry…"

"Jeez what a wakeup call… whoa." Mike put one hand on his head as he got a dizzy spell. When it was over he carefully regarded his cellmate, the other turtle was rocking back and forth seemingly lost in his own world.

"So, got a name?" he asked.

"M-M-M…" the dark green turtle stuttered closing his eyes tight. "Michelangelo."

"Whoa, again." Mikey stared stunned at him; this was his very own counterpart. He recalled Raphael telling about him.

"Uh… my name is Michelangelo too," the blue-greenish one introduced himself. That got the attention of his cell-mate who looked at him.

"R-really?" He tried to smile but dropped it quickly. "Cool."

"So been here long?" Mikey asked looking around, but there wasn't much to look at.

"Too long," his counterpart whispered staring forward wide eyed. "Too long… too long."

"Ok, I broke my counterpart, nice going Mikey." Mikey looked at the other turtle concerned.

"So you have finally awoken." A voice reached his ear. The blue-greenish ninja froze and felt a cold shiver run across his spine. This wasn't the assassin's voice. It was sinister, almost cold, but it wasn't in a growl like the black-clad turtle's.

 _No way… no way… Don said he was dead… he saw him shot…_ Mikey slowly turned his head to the door. His eyes opened wide in shock at seeing the olive green turtle standing on the other side of the glass door.

"Y-y-you?" he whispered and pointed at supposedly dead ex-Emperor Donatello of Turtotopia. The turtle was wearing a white lab coat but nothing else.

"Hello Mikey, nice to meet you again," the ex-overlord said sporting a sinister smile.

"T-this is impossible… Don saw you shot… Don saw the assassin dude kill you." Mike felt his heart beginning to beat rapidly again, his breathing began accelerating. Donatello's counterpart just shook his head and smiled even wider.

"No, your brother heard a gunshot and saw a body. He never saw the assassin pull the trigger," the ex-emperor explained. At that moment the assassin appeared standing beside the olive-green turtle.

"Mikey, see you have met my employee," the black-masked one said with a devious smirk and gestured to Donatello's counterpart.

"He was just waking up," the former overlord explained with a slight chuckle.

"You look a little confused Mikey, let me explain," Leo's counterpart started.

"No, wait I think I want to tell this story." Donatello raised a hand to stop the assassin. The black-clad turtle shrugged and walked away.

"You see Mikey I had very little desire to go back to that loony bin if everything would backfire in Leonardo's plans. So I approached him with a deal," the ex-emperor began.

"Like the assassin, I like to have backups of my plans if everything goes awry. During my emperor years I secretly transferred money into foreign accounts in my world, accounts that nobody could trace or freeze. I told the assassin about this money and said I would gladly give him half of it, if he faked my death," the olive-green one continued.

"Actually it was only 50,000$ for killing you, the rest was for hiding you until I had relayed the news that you were dead," the assassin called from somewhere in the room. The ex-emperor sighted in frustration and glared to his left, but turned back to Mikey who now as well hugged his legs.

"Of course, you weren't supposed to lose, Luna, Michelle and April in that deal," Donatello retorted.

"Well I wasn't expecting the idiots to actually try freeing her from the chains," the black masked turtle shot back.

"Anyway," the ex-emperor growled rubbing his forehead tiredly. "Your Donatello served as a witness to confirm that I had died, just in case. When Tony, Leonardo's servant, dragged me away, I was transferred to this place here to keep me hidden."

"Unfortunately we all got to eat, so to continue being in hiding and to generally survive the assassin hired me. It's actually not been that bad, I get to continue my own work and even managed to finally cure myself of those voices in my head, permanently. No more regular injections to keep them at bay," Donatello finished.

"Actually I recall saying 'Your first order of business is to do something more permanent about the voices in your head' when you started working for me full time," the assassin called once more. The former emperor grunted but said nothing further.

Mikey gulped but didn't say anything. He watched as his brother's counterpart reached for a panel on the wall beside the door. The plastic door slid open but the ex-emperor was staring at the dark green turtle.

"Michelangelo, stand up and step outside," he ordered. Mike was surprised to see his counterpart just look up and began standing up.

"Hey hold on." Mikey tried to grab for him but the other turtle was too quick and was soon out of the cell. Donatello again reached for the wall panel and the door closed. He was smirking sadistically.

"You haven't forgotten my mind control chip have you Mikey?" he asked and chuckled when seeing the shocked face on the blue-greenish one. "Michelangelo here is a test subject for a new modification. It still has few bugs that I need to work on, but it is coming along nicely."

"Sick bastards." Mike gritted his teeth. He saw that his counterpart had a very lost and confused expression. Then he remembered that Raphael's other two brothers, figuring since he was there he might just as well ask.

"Where are the others, Leonardo and Donatello, his brothers?"

"Hm, I'm afraid Donatello had a little mishap," the ex-emperor said folding his arms and shook his head. "I'm afraid we have to keep him isolated and away."

"Pretty Boy is probably in the kitchen begging Tony for scraps," the assassin called.

"What he said." Donatello shrugged and then turned to face the dark-green turtle. Mikey watched as the ex-emperor began examining his counterpart's head critically, gently touching it with his hands to move it from side to side.

"Looks like nothing is out of the ordinary," the former overlord muttered nodding, then he took a step back while rubbing his beak regarding Michelangelo.

"We still need to get rid of that confusion in your expression when the chip is activated," he said and began walking away. "Come we are going to the lab."

"Don't listen to him!" Mikey called after his counterpart but he didn't listen and followed obediently.

Mike ground his teeth and stood up. Slowly the turtle walked closer to the door and tried to see the outside of his cell. The room was dark red, matching Raphael's description of it. Looking slightly to the left he could spot where the assassin stood in front of a window staring out.

"Hey!" he called. "So what is going to happen to me?"

"Don't know really, don't care," the assassin responded and turned around, he was smirking strangely. "I already have a turtle, don't need another one. I'm sure the Donatello won't be too cruel to you."

 _Oh shell._ Mikey gulped remembering too well when he was under the control of the ex-emperor.

His attention directed to the door further inside the room, it was opening and yet another dark-green turtle walked in. Like Michelangelo, he was similar to Raphael in appearance, but this one had scars on the shoulders and arms. There was also a line on the plastron, an indication where it had cracked at one point.

The blue-greenish turtle frowned, he recalled Raph's counterpart describe his version of Leonardo carrying scars like these. The newly arrived turtle looked very skittish and nervous. He tried not to stare too much in the assassin's direction as he approached the black-clad turtle.

"I didn't send for you," the assassin said sternly and folded his arms.

"I-I know… I know," the turtle flinched but was now just few feet away from him. "I… I just…"

"What?" the black-masked one began examining his black gloved right hand looking bored.

"C-can I…see…can I see my brothers?" the dark-green turtle looked pleadingly at him.

"I don't know." Leonardo stopped examining his hand and put his hands on the hips. "How have you been behaving?"

"I-I've been good… honest… I've been good." The turtle backed away frightened. "It's true… I've been a good boy."

"Really now, you said that last time too and Tony didn't agree with you," the assassin claimed. The other turtle hung his head and sniffled, wrapped his arms around himself and turned away.

"Sorry," he whispered and took a step away. "I'm sorry."

The assassin shook his head and turned back to the window. The dark-green one started to walk away but then took a glance at the cell. When noticing Mikey he raised his head and looked at him surprised.

"W-Who is that?" he asked.

"His name is Mikey, why don't you go and say hi," the black-masked one answered.

Mikey watched as the dark-green turtle approached carefully and looked at him unsure and nervous. The blue-greenish one was though starting to suspect who of Raphael's brothers this was.

"Hi," the nervous one whispered once he was close enough.

"Hey," Mike answered and frowned as he observed that the turtle was shaking a bit. "You Leonardo?"

"If I'm good…"The dark-green one shrugged and eyed the assassin nervously.

"If you are bad?" Mikey wasn't sure though he wanted really to know. Leonardo cringed a bit and looked to be in pain.

"T-Then… t-then I'm… Pretty Boy," he stammered.

Mikey was about to say something but suddenly ex-Emperor Donatello arrived from the right. The blue-green turtle almost jumped when the olive-green one came so suddenly. There had to be an entrance somewhere else in the room, he hadn't seen him come from the doorway.

Leonardo just took one look at the former overlord, shrieked and bolted. He fled immediately to the assassin and jumped behind him apparently for safety. This whole event the black-clad one and Donatello watched chuckling.

"Oookay." Mike raised an eye ridge when seeing the strong reaction Raphael's brother had shown.

"Yeah, he remembers the shock therapy I gave him." Donatello was grinning devilishly. "Teaches him for trying to sneak into my lab."

"Bastard!" the turtle in the cell growled and got an unimpressed glance from the ex-emperor.

"Now Mikey, no need to be rude," Donatello said and resumed the devilish smile. He walked closer to the cell and reached for the panel on the wall. Mike could see him push a button on it.

He looked up when gas started to emit from the ventilation shaft on the cell ceiling. The blue-green turtle froze for a moment but then stared back at the olive-green one outside.

"Hey! Hey! What is going on?" he asked and started to hammer his fists on the plastic door.

"Just some sleeping gas Mikey, I don't want to you to go all ninja and stuff on me when I transfer you to my lab," the former overlord explained casually.

 _Sleeping gas,_ the usually orange masked turtle thought and started to feel light headed. Soon the gas was almost filling the small cell. Mikey definitely felt the effects now and slowly started to slide down. His hands were like glued to the door as he sunk to his knees. Then they slowly began dropping down until the turtle finally lost the battle and fell unconscious to the floor.

The ex-emperor pushed another button on the panel and the gas began clearing out. Once the cell was clean, the door was opened. Donatello smirked as he bent and prepared to drag Mikey out.

* * *

 **2k3 TMNT-world**

 _"YOU DID WHAT?!"_

 _"Hey, I didn't know I had to read this stuff first."_

 _"GAH, you're lucky you used a small doze. He should be somewhat fine, but now he'll experience bad memory, blackouts and seizure."_

 _"Hey you told me I could test the cell on him."_

 _"I didn't say you could use the memory substance on him."_

 _"Well I thought it would be fun to try."_

 _"Remind me why I joined up with you?"_

 _"Because your empire was ripped away from you and if you return to your world you'll be thrown into a nuthouse. Oh and you are still working off your debt to me, no the payment you gave me does not count, that was only for faking your death."_

Raphael woke up and quickly sat up in the couch. He managed to slow his breathing down but his heart continued to beat rapidly.

"There was another… somebody else," he frowned and stood up. The turtle hesitated before he walked over to Splinter's chamber door.

"Come in Raphael." The voice of the elder invited him before the dark green one could knock on the door.

The formerly R-wearing ninja took a deep breath, opened the door and walked in. Splinter sat on his meditation mat and candles were lit around him. The old rat was in a lotus position and his eyes were closed.

"Please sit down," the old ninja master offered without even opening a single eye. The mask-less turtle walked slowly in and closed the door. He walked over to Splinter and knelt down in front of him.

"You are troubled." Splinter finally opened his eyes; he smiled warmly at the distressed turtle. "Please, pour us some tea."

Raphael glanced at the small tray nearby; gingerly he picked up the kettle and began pouring tea in the two cups. Once that was done, he gave Splinter one and picked the other for himself. The old rat took his time to sip on his brew before speaking again.

"My sons will free your brothers, have no doubt about that," the elder ninja master said and lowered his hands that both held the cup. Raphael smiled weakly and nodded.

"I…well I didn't doubt that… it's just… I'm so used to being the one… who is being relayed on to save the day… me and my brothers that is… it's so strange to have to look to others," he whispered and drank from his cup.

"There come times when you must seek aid, it must indeed feel strange for you to have to sit this out," Splinter said and raised his hands to take another sip from the cup.

"I wish I could help." Raphael dropped the smile and became more sorrowful. "I… I hate being so helpless."

"You will help Raphael; you will help your brothers when they come here. They will need your help to recover," the old rat said and put his cup on the tray.

"I know… they will… will need all the help they can get." The turtle sniffled and felt the tears threatening to come. Soon he couldn't contain it any longer and put one hand on his face and cried.

Splinter didn't say a word, just allowed the turtle to grieve. The old rat did lean slightly forward to lay one hand gently and reassuringly on his shoulder. Raphael continued to cry bitterly for few minutes before he finally managed to regain composure.

"Sorry…" he whispered as he wiped this tearstained face.

"Don't apologize, your grief is understandable," the old ninja master said and sat up straight, taking his hand off the turtle's shoulder.

"I came here also… because I think I remember someone else…someone else being in there, aside from the assassin," Raphael mentioned and shook his head. "I-I don't remember much though… but he… I don't know, I think you guys know him."

"Hm," Splinter stroke his muzzle thoughtfully.

"You think they will be long?" the turtle asked.

"That will depend on how long it will take for them to locate the assassin, but I have full confidence that my sons will free your brothers as soon as possible," the ninja master said.

"I wish I could see them… my brothers," Raphael whispered and closed his eyes tight. "I would give so much just to hear their voices again."

For the second time this night, the tears streamed down. The once red-clad turtle couldn't control his sobs anymore and had both hands covering his face. Splinter could do little but offer a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He felt for him, understood his pain. It had to be heart wrenching to know nothing about how his loved ones were doing.

"I… I can't believe it…" the turtle cried. "I used to be tough… I took no nonsense from anybody… I wisecracked like nobodies business… I was sarcastic and yes I admit it rude… but look at me now…"

"I'm a crying sob." He removed the hands from his face and stared at Splinter. The tears still flooded his cheeks.

"There is no shame in crying. You worry for your brothers, you have no knowledge of their well-being and you have suffered unimaginable torment yourself. It is understandable that you feel vulnerable now," Splinter told him.

"I guess," Raphael muttered while looking down. He once more had to dry his tear-stained beak. "I don't know how I can thank you all for your help."

"No need, it is more than welcome. We have ourselves suffered at the hands of the assassin, we wouldn't have had it otherwise but help," the elder said firmly raising one hand. "Do not worry about it."

"Why don't you, to ease your mind of the present, tell me a little about your world. Perhaps about you and your brothers' origins," the old rat suggested.

"Guess I could," Raphael shrugged and took a deep breath. For a moment he glanced at his bandaged right hand. He then began telling Splinter about himself and his brothers, their origin and their world.

 **End chapter 4**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 08/05 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 **Assassin's world**

"Yes send them in, Maggie. Oh and tell Paula to check if Carl finally went with those blasted files, if not sic Clarence on him," Magistrate Raphael said and lifted the finger off the button on the phone. He scratched his head while watching the door to his office, it opened very shortly afterwards. In walked his brother Ninja Master Donatello, following him closely were the younger teenage counterparts of him and his brothers, safe for Michelangelo.

"Welcome to our world." The mask-less brown shirt wearing turtle grinned and stood up, he was addressing the three younger turtles.

"Thank you, I take you have been informed of our problem," Leo said stepping forward. "We left in a hurry last night from our world."

"Yeah Donny mentioned something about it to me yesterday." The magistrate shook his head in dismay. "Just when you think Leonardo can't outdo himself, he does."

"There has been a slight change in the situation though," the blue-clad turtle claimed. "The assassin has kidnapped Mikey as well, our Mikey."

"Great," the mask-less turtle grunted while rubbing his forehead tiredly.

"And he's apparently not in his mansion, your counterpart that is still at our lair, he said it looked like a ranch where he and his brothers were kept," the purple-clad Don chimed in.

"Ranch?" The magistrate looked at his dogi-clad brother who shrugged. "Leo doesn't own a ranch, at least not here."

"What do you mean at least not here?" Raph growled frowning.

"He doesn't own a ranch in this world, but it is quite possible he owns one in another one," Magistrate Raphael said. The faces on the younger turtles all fell. He gestured to the couch that was in his office.

"Why don't you boys sit down, Don and I will check few things out," he said and walked away from the desk. None of them sat down as the two older turtles disappeared out of the office.

"Terrific," Raph growled and began pacing around. "This was supposed to be the easy part right?"

"Nobody said it was going to be easy. I hope Mikey is ok." Leo sighed heavily and walked to a window. He leaned up against it while staring out at the city. It looked almost like the New York he was familiar with, but there were elements different about it, futuristic was probably the best way to describe it.

He still couldn't believe that the assassin had taken his brother instead of him. The turtle still scolded himself for not having been more careful. Why couldn't he have reacted faster? He had heard the dart coming. The blue-masked ninja put his forehead up against the glass, closed his eyes tight to force the tears back.

"That jerk had better not have done anything to him!" the red-masked one grunted and was now handling one of his sai, still pacing around.

"If we only had more information," Don muttered, he had in the end sat down in the couch. He was rubbing his chin thoughtfully, but he still had some difficulties to concentrate. He was so concerned about Mikey.

"Well the only way to get that is through my counterpart and he hardly remembers what happened to his brothers." Raph stopped his pacing and shook his head. Donatello didn't say a word, just nodded.

"He wouldn't be able to tell us anyway," Leo said from the window and glanced back at his brothers. "Remember, he was asleep when he was brought over there. When he escaped, he probably used that traveling gadget he had thus he couldn't see anything useful."

"Wait, what did you say?" Don looked at Leo wide eyed.

"I said that if he escaped he used that gadget," the blue-masked one repeated himself.

"Of course." The purple clad turtle rose up from the couch snapping his fingers. "He hasn't used it again so there is a chance we can use it to backtrack."

"Did we bring the traveler with us?" Leo stepped away from the window, when his brother lit up like this there was hope. Donatello immediately opened his duffle bag and produced out of it Raphael's traveler.

"I had the liberty of borrowing the traveler, just in case," the purple clad one said with a grin. "But I didn't even think of backtracking until you mention he had to use the traveler to escape."

"Way to go Donny." Raph patted Don on the shoulder. Leonardo allowed himself slight relief. At least there was a small chance now. At that moment the office door opened again and the two older turtles returned.

"I'm sorry we couldn't find anything," the magistrate announced, he was a bit surprised to see the teenage turtles smiling.

"That's ok, we have this," the purple masked turtle handed the dimension traveler to his dogi-clad counterpart. The black-clad one looked at it and then both he and his mask-less brother stared at Don confused.

"This is a dimension traveler Raphael used to escape from the assassin. Chances are it can lead back to the place he was kept in," he explained.

"Well I'll be," the magistrate muttered and glanced at his brother. The dogi-clad turtle was now staring at the traveler more attentively. Then he nodded clearly agreeing with his younger counterpart.

"How long would it take to back track?" Leo asked biting his lips, hoping the answer was not counted in weeks.

"Oh, immediately," Magistrate Raphael said and patted his brother on the shoulder. The three younger turtles blinked. "Just as soon as he presses the reverse button."

They all looked the ninja master who aimed the traveler away and pressed a button. Nothing happened, the teenage ninjas groaned and the magistrate frowned. The dogi-clad turtle began messing with the traveler, pushing buttons, grunting in frustration. He finally seemed to be reading something off the screen, then he gave a hand signal.

"The traveler hasn't been used for five months? No wonder the reverse button didn't work, that model clears that out after three months. We are going to have to check the logs." Magistrate Raphael shook his head.

"And how long will that take?" Leo feared the worst.

"Oh no more than 24 hours," the magistrate said and looked at the turtle. "However, that might turn out to be unnecessary since Raphael probably did not escape five months ago."

"Oh yeah, Raphael couldn't have used that traveler then. Then how did he escape?" Don frowned in thought.

"Only Raphael can tell us that." Leonardo sighed.

"And he can't remember," his Raph snorted.

* * *

 **? ? ?**

The former emperor picked up a clipboard and started to jot down something on it. He looked critically at the dark-green turtle in front of him. Michelangelo was standing still and staring with the lost confused expression forward.

"Hm, recalibrating didn't drop that face," he muttered and put the clipboard away.

"You're never going to get it working," a gruff voice growled from somewhere else in the room. There was a slight Japanese accent in it.

"I don't recall asking your opinion," Donatello snorted and picked up a small scanner. He operated the device and used it to sweep it over Michelangelo's left temple. There was a visible surgical scar there.

"What are you doing in my lab?" the former overlord grunted while reading the result on the scanner.

"Didn't like what was on the tube," the voice said with a chuckle. The olive green turtle sighed heavily.

"And I suppose in a fit of rage you obliterated it?" he growled and started to write down what the scanner told him on the clipboard.

"You can say that," the voice said. Donatello groaned and shook his head.

"So what's with the blue-green one strapped on the table? Say, he kind of reminds me of Mikey," the voice mentioned. The ex-emperor looked at the nearby table where Mikey was strapped down.

"That's because his name is Mikey. He's a teenager from another reality, they are ninjas or something like that," Donatello answered.

"Ninja you say," the voice became rather eager. "That means he can fight."

"I suppose you can say that, but haven't you had enough from my counterpart?" The former overlord walked to the table and began examining Mikey's head. "Michelangelo, get the antidote for the sleeping gas. I think I need him awake for this."

"Can I play with him afterwards?" the voice asked still eager.

"No, I am using him," Donatello growled and accepted a vial and a syringe from the mind-controlled turtle.

"RAPHAEL!" the more familiar voice of the assassin roared. Into the lab walked the black-clad turtle and went straight to one corner of it.

There stood a very dark-green turtle; he was wearing camouflage pants and army boots. Across his plastron was a belt that had shotgun cartridges, the gun was holstered on his back. Another belt encircled his waist holding both handguns and what looked like grenades. On his head was a blood-red mask. He leisurely used a sai to pick dirt from under his fingernails, but stopped the when the assassin approached.

"Raphael, did you use a grenade to BLOW UP the TV?" the black wearing turtle asked between his teeth.

"Yeah, so?" Raphael asked with a lazy shrug and patted his chin with the tip of his sai. "It was boring."

"Boring," Leonardo glowered at the very dark green turtle in front of him. "YOU DESTROYED THE DAMN WALL BEHIND IT!"

"So, get it fixed," the blood-red masked one said with a sneer.

"Heh, get it fixed he says," the assassin snorted and looked at Donatello who did his best to ignore them and had injected Mikey with the antidote. "Get it fixed he says."

"Yeah, get it fixed 'fearless'," Raphael snapped and approached the black-clad one.

"I can't get it fixed," the assassin growled at him. "Because then people will know I live here!"

"That's not my problem," the other turtle sneered at Leonardo.

"It is, unless you want me to drag you sorry ass back to jail and collect that bounty that's over your head," the black-masked one snapped.

"You son of a…" Raphael got silent when the assassin raised an eye ridge and folded his arms. Growling and cursing the very dark green turtle stomped out of the lab.

"Alright, alright I'll fix that damn wall!" he snarled and slammed the door shut as he left.

"I remind you that it was you who brought him here," the ex-emperor said as he turned to face the black clad turtle.

"I didn't ask you to remind me," Leonardo snapped, he was rubbing his forehead tiredly.

"It is his fault that his counterpart escaped. He always had to go 'hunting' to make things more interesting," Donatello told him. "What possible use is he to you?"

"Who do you think supplied me with the laser bombs I used to demolish that factory nine months ago?" The assassin eyed the emperor. "And rigged up the whole place. I know a thing or two about bombs but not even I could rig a whole factory to explode so perfectly like it did."

"Ok, ok so he is a demolition expert I'll give him that," the former overlord grunted and turned back to the table.

"They don't call him The Demolisher for nothing in his home dimension." Leonardo shook his head. He glanced at the table when he heard a groan from there.

"Oh, so Mikey is awake," he said with a smirk and walked closer. "What's your plan for him?"

"Few harmless tests," Donatello muttered as he watched the strapped turtle slowly regaining consciousness. Then he grinned wickedly.

* * *

 **2k3 TMNT-world**

 _"Run!"_

 _"W-what?"_

 _"Run!"_

 _BLAM!_

 _"AH! You're c-crazy!"_

 _"RUN!"_

Raphael gasped as he woke up. The turtle rose and realized he had fallen asleep in the recliner while watching the TV. He looked around and sighed in relief when seeing he was in his host's lair.

"What the… what on earth was that all about?" he put one palm on his temple. "I could have sworn…"

"Is something the matter?" Splinter came walking from the kitchen.

"I-I don't know… I fell asleep," the turtle said and looked at him. "I dreamt… somebody was demanding me to run… then I heard a gunshot."

"Could it be another memory?" the old rat wondered regarding the turtle more carefully.

"Possible," Raphael muttered looking down. "I just wish I could remember more clearly."

"Have you tried meditation?" Splinter suggested and wasn't very surprised that the turtle looked at him very unsure.

"Uh… well… no. Um it were my Master Splinter and Leonardo who did all that stuff," he said grinning uneasily.

"It might aid you in remembering. You mentioned that there was someone else with the assassin. Someone we might know, as well now you mention somebody telling you to run. Perhaps that was something about how you escaped," old ninja master said.

"Well… I suppose it's worth a try," Raphael shrugged and stood up.

They went into Splinter's chamber and sat down in a lotus position against each other. Splinter lit few candles and both closed their eyes. The old rat guided the turtle for the first few minutes, told him to calm and clear his mind. Soon Raphael was sunken deep into his shattered memories.

Splinter could feel that his son's counterpart had hit on something; he could sense fear and tension coming from the turtle. The old rat tried to reach for his mind, tried to give him strength to face this memory.

"Tell me what you see," the rat said gently.

"I-I…" Raphael gasped. "I…I see your… no wait it's not him… but he looks like him… wears a blood-red mask…he's telling me to run… we are on a field… I have the traveler in my hand… he shoots at me with a handgun… orders me to run…"

"Who does he look like?" Splinter asked in a calm voice. He could hear the turtle whimper.

"Raphael… he looks like Raphael… he is Raphael… from another world… like the assassin," Raphael stammered. The old master didn't open his eyes but frowned.

"Try to go deeper Raphael, I do indeed sense something familiar from your memories," he instructed the turtle.

"I'm running… no fighting… I have no chance… he's too strong… good lord… what has he done to Donatello?! DONATELLO!"

"Raphael!" Splinter said sharply but still with the same gentle tone. "Try to focus."

"He's there… the assassin… he's laughing… oh god… he's fighting too… LEONARDO!"

"Focus Raphael, who do you see as well?" the rat continued to try and guide the turtle. He felt now strongly for something that was very familiar to him.

"Michelangelo… poor Michelangelo… what's wrong with you brother… what's wrong…? What have you done to my brother?"

 _There, he's not asking the assassin or this Raphael he mentioned._ Splinter could feel it.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BROTHER YOU MONSTER?" Raphael screamed.

"Focus Raphael, who do you see?" Splinter asked sternly. The turtle fell silent for a moment before speaking.

"He's olive-green… like your Donatello… but not as muscular… he's wearing a white lab-coat…. There is a scar on his left temple… has a sinister smile and voice."

 _It cannot be._ Now first did Splinter open his eyes. His brow sunk in worry.

"Raphael wake up!" he ordered and Raphael opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

"W-what… it worked?" the turtle asked and didn't like the worried face on the old rat.

"Raphael, we might have a graver problem than we realized," Splinter said as he stood up.

"What do you mean?" Raphael asked confused while rising to his feet and followed the old ninja master out of the room.

Splinter didn't answer. Instead, he walked to Don's work-corner. He picked up a device the purple masked turtle had told him to use if the turtles needed to be contacted. The rat pushed the button on it and waited. Soon a voice emerged from a small speaker on it.

"Donatello, is that you Master Splinter?"

"It is me, Donatello," Splinter said.

"Something wrong?" his son detected the worried tone in his father's voice.

"Raphael recovered some of his memory through meditation," the old rat told him and gave the dark-green turtle a short glance. "He saw something that is very troubling."

"What is it?" Don asked.

* * *

 **Assassin's world.**

Don put the device back on his belt and gulped. He slowly turned to face three curious turtles that had only caught bits from the conversation. Leo frowned when seeing how startled his brother looked.

"I-it can't be… I saw him shot… I saw him," Don muttered and shook his head. His blue-clad brother approached him and put one hand on his shoulder.

"What?" he asked.

"M-my emperor double… Master Splinter said that Raphael remembered… remembered seeing Emperor Donatello of Turtotopia." Donatello looked at Leo confused and startled.

"What?" Raph walked to his brothers. He was just as surprised as Leonardo was.

"I-it can't be… I saw him shot… I saw the Assassin shoot him." Don protested looking at his brothers. Then his confused expression changed into surprise. "No wait."

Raph and Leo glanced at each other and then back at their purple-clad brother. The olive-green turtle was now rubbing his chin thoughtfully; he suddenly grimaced as if some kind of realization had hit him.

"I… I never saw the trigger pulled… I closed my eyes and looked away. Because the assassin pretended he was going to shoot me." Don frowned and started to pace around. "Come to think of it… I don't remember seeing or smelling blood at all."

"He could have shot a blank," Leo suggested, Don stopped and looked at his brother. "And the emperor pretended to die."

"Or better yet." The magistrate entered the conversation. "Leo could have used a blank but at the same time shot the emperor with his dart-gun. The darts are small so Don could have missed it. It also makes it look more realistic."

"He also remembered something else," Don said and now looked at everybody in the room. "He mentioned seeing Raph's counterpart."

"Oh crud." Raph eyed skywards. "That was just to top it all."

"You don't say," the magistrate grunted and folded his arms. He eyed his dogi-clad brother who was busy working on a computer.

They were in a room at Ninja Master Donatello's house. It was the silent turtle's workroom; there were various gadgets in it, plus a computer and a workbench. Schematics for devices hung on the walls.

"So, not only are we going to be dealing with this assassin bozo, we will be dealing with a supposed dead multiple personality disorder idiot and an evil version of me?" the red-masked turtle growled.

"Sound like it." Leo sighed and turned back to the computer and the one using it. "Anything yet."

"The program is still going over the traveler's log," Magistrate Raphael said. Even though they had figured it was unlikely, the turtles had in the end decided to go over the traveler's logs. Just to completely eliminate that possibility, the magistrate did point out that it could have been altered. "But the traveler wasn't exactly in a good shape, it might take a bit."

Ninja Master Donatello nodded and gave a hand signal. Then he typed something in the computer. The Magistrate patted his brother on the back, turned away and headed towards the door.

"I'm going to make a phone call, I need to check on something," the mask-less turtle said. The teenage turtles just nodded.

As the magistrate was leaving the room, Luna stole her way past him and in. Leo and Raph both stared at the woman a bit surprised. Her waist seemed to be swelling.

"Hi guys," she said shyly when seeing the younger turtles. Don was the only one to smile at her.

"Hello Luna, I can see you are carrying it well," he said and indicated to her waist. Luna giggled and nodded, she then walked to where the dogi-clad turtle was working. The woman put her hands gently on his shoulders and whispered something to him.

"Wait… um Luna is pregnant?" Leo raised an eye-ridge in surprise. Don nodded.

"And she's going to be laying an egg, not live birth," the purple-clad one explained. "And the gestation period will be about ten months; she has about a month more to go before laying it."

"Really?" Raph glanced at the turtle woman who had removed the mask of the ninja master and was kissing him on the cheek.

"Yeah, it's something to do with how the emperor engineered the mutation. I got it confirmed from the cyborg. The turtle women walk with the egg in the womb for ten months, lay it then there is about one or two months period before it hatches," Don explained to his brothers.

"Donatello and I have figured that he kind of mixed it evenly together. So the baby develops in the egg while still in the womb and when it's laid the child is on its final stages of development," the purple clad one continued.

"But why not just engineer them so they give live birth?" Leo asked confused. His brother only shrugged.

"Maybe he couldn't, maybe that was the only way it was possible, we don't know. All we know is that she will lay an egg after carrying it for ten months and it will hatch in one or two months," he said.

"You guys want something to drink, we got sodas in the fridge." Luna had finished talking with her lover and turned towards them.

"Um, no thanks," Leo glanced warily at the woman. "Congratulations by the way."

"Yeah congrats," Raph said as well. Luna blushed and bowed her head.

"Thank you," she said and caressed her tummy. The woman left the room once it was evident that nobody wanted a drink.

Raph was about to walk to the silent version of his brother, clearly to congratulate him but was stopped. Don had put a hand on his shoulder. The red-masked turtle glanced at his brother who was shaking his head.

"There is a slight possibility… that Donatello is not the father," he whispered very low.

"What do you mean?" Leo asked confused.

"Think Leo, nine months ago, who was Luna with? Pretending to be still in love with?" The purple clad turtle looked at his blue masked brother.

Leonardo cringed when he realized what Don was talking about. He eyed in the ninja master's direction. He showed no indication that he had heard them. The turtle could only imagine how he was feeling about this, the possibility that the person he hated had impregnated his girlfriend.

"Ouch." Raph rubbed the back of his head.

"So Donatello frowns on any congratulations geared towards him," the purple masked one told them. His brothers nodded in understanding.

"But how come you knew she was pregnant and didn't tell us?" Raph asked slapping the olive-green turtle lightly on the plastron.

"They asked me to keep it silent for a while and then I actually forgot," Don explained and shrugged. "Especially because of the possibility… you know."

Before they had a chance to answer, Magistrate Raphael returned. The mask-less turtle walked straight to his brother and looked for a moment at the computer. Then he turned towards the teenagers.

"I called the main data research center for other worlds. I think we know what Raphael my brother apparently has and Raphael you are housing saw," he said with an uneasy grin.

"Ok," Leo wondered how bad the news were, the magistrate didn't look too happy.

"Apparently another world that has mutant turtles like us and is under surveillance for possible interdimensional relationship, has a Raphael who… well has been missing for a while," the mask-less one told them.

"He's called The Demolisher; he is demolition and weapons expert and former marine in the American military in his world. He apparently went nuts and was sent to jail for killing people in some mad explosion experiments. He broke free out of jail and vanished, there is heavy reward for his capture," he continued and sighed. "He was also found out to be smuggling illegal weapons and selling them on a black market."

"Great," Raph growled.

"They don't know that much more about this world, I'll see if we can contact his brothers. They might know more about him," Raphael said and handed a note to his dogi-clad brother. "These are the coordinates to his world. See if you can find something more about it."

"Are you going to get them involved?" Leonardo asked worried, it was getting difficult to keep track on all these alternative turtles.

"No, but at least try and gain information on him," the magistrate said. "Because what I got to know about him, I don't like at all."

 **End chapter 5**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 18/05 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **2k3 TMNT-world**

 _"He doesn't look to healthy."_

 _"That's just a minor side effect; let me guess he had him run?"_

 _"Good guess. He even used a gun to motivate him to run."_

 _"And then they sparred?"_

 _"Spar? Oh you mean when he was beating the living crap out of him."_

 _"I take it he had enough of my counterpart."_

 _"Yeah, I had to drag him back to that special cell we had to construct for him."_

 _"It's still holding? The muscle stimulants should have made him five times stronger than he already was."_

 _"I'm surprised you aren't more proud of your engineering."_

 _"I look at me more as a scientist."_

 _"Whatever, oh and I heard your cloning process was a success."_

 _"Partially, the process will take longer than I anticipated. But at least I managed to recreate my memory extractor."_

 _"The what now?"_

 _"Remember the cyborg that held you over that ledge almost two years ago."_

 _"Yeah, ripped my best shirt to get free from him."_

 _"I constructed that cyborg. Every piece of machinery that he uses is my invention. He has the ability to extract memories from people's brain. That is the technology I managed to recreate. I have already used it on Michelangelo, and it's now only waiting the cloned body. Which unfortunately is taking longer than expected."_

 _"Yeah, yeah, spare me the technical mumbo jumbo. Tell me, when you suffer a seizure and fall unconscious. Do you hear what other people say?"_

 _"I would say no, though people in coma have been shown to react to voices and sounds. Why?"_

 _"Oh I don't know. We have been standing here talking in front of the cell. He's lying there unconscious after suffering a seizure while running for his life."_

 _"It's possible, but due to the memory drug you injected in him he'll not remember it. Maybe it went to his subconscious, I don't know."_

"Ugh… what happened?" Raphael slowly opened his eyes and found himself lying on the floor. Kneeling beside him was Splinter.

"I'm afraid you suffered a seizure," the old rat told him and stood up. He helped the turtle to rise from the floor. Then guided him to the couch and had the ninja sit down there.

"W-what was I doing before having the seizure?" the turtle asked, he rubbed his hands together nervously.

"You were attempting to exercise. I suggested you ran few laps around the lair," Splinter told him; he was seated beside his son's counterpart. "I talked with Donatello; he has suggested that you do not attempt further stress on your body while in your present condition."

"Yeah… probably for the best," Raphael nodded. "Have they made any process?"

"They believe they might have located the world that you escaped from and your brothers and my son are held captive," the old ninja master explained. "I did not fully understand Donatello's complete explanation about the process, but what they did apparently was using your traveling device to trace your flight."

"Yes it's ours."

Raphael and Splinter turned to see the teenage turtles and Ninja Master Donatello standing on the bridge across the pool. Behind the dogi clad turtle the portal was just closing. The old rat stood up and stared at his blue-clad son with a heavy frown.

"Please explain Leonardo," he requested.

"It's probably better that Don does that," Leo said and gestured to his purple-clad brother. Don stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"Um, my counterpart. Ninja Master Donatello managed to get into the traveling log of Raphael's traveler," he began and but had an uneasy expression and rubbed the back of his neck.

"It came out empty on any recent travels and before we checked the logs thoroughly the traveler did read that it hadn't been activated for months," he said. Raphael stared at the purple masked one stunned and Splinter was now stroking his muzzle thoughtfully.

"But if I never activated it… how… I mean…" the mask-less turtle said.

"Don't forget that you don't even remember how you escaped. It is possible the assassin planted the traveler on you to throw us off," Leo told him.

"But how did the assassin disappear so quickly with Michelangelo?" Splinter asked frowning.

"He probably used his dimension traveler to go to one dimension and then return to this world just to another location. If you know the coordinates then that is pretty easy," Donatello said and then gestured to the bridge. "That's how Donatello can open his portal here; he has the coordinates to open a dimensional portal over the bridge inside the lair."

"Which brings us to the reason why we have returned," Leo said and then looked at Don. "You two better get started on the search."

"Right." the purple-clad turtle looked at his dogi-clad counterpart who nodded. The two turtles then headed for Don's work corner and sat in front of the computer.

"We have estimated that the ranch has to be somewhere near New York City, maybe in the state of New York. We don't know really, but it has to be in close enough distance for Raphael to have escaped from the ranch and to the city," Leonardo explained to Splinter as he and Raph approached him.

The two turtles and Splinter went to the couch, where Raphael still sat and waited. Now the old rat was seated in his recliner while Leo sat down in a nearby chair. Raph planted himself beside his counterpart

"You feelin' ok?" he asked the mask-less turtle. Raphael shook his head.

"Had another seizure just few minutes ago…" He stopped and glanced at Splinter. "It was just few minutes ago right?"

Splinter nodded with a smile. Raph patted his counterpart on the carapace before folding his arms and leaning back in the couch. Leo muttered something and all eyes went to the blue clad one.

"Don's counterpart couldn't find much more about that Raphael you said had been there. The magistrate is going to see if he can find out some more," Leonardo told them. "He does though think he has it confirmed who it is."

"Ok, so we are dealing with a wacko version of you," Raph said and looked at his brother. "A mad scientist version of Don and a crazy version of me, that doesn't sound too hard."

"I hope you're right Raph," Leo said though he didn't sound very convinced. At that moment the portal opened again and Magistrate Raphael came through.

"Ok, we are going to need a tank. You know any we can borrow?" the brown-shirt wearing turtle asked as he approached everybody.

"What do you mean?" the blue clad turtle wondered. The magistrate didn't respond right away, he took a moment to bow for Splinter who nodded at the gesture.

"My counterpart, that is the one he saw," the shirt-wearing turtle said and pointed at Raphael. "I think we can safely say it is the Demolisher. If so, it isn't going to be just enough to be a ninja to beat the guy. We need a tank."

"Well, we have the Battle-Shell," Don chimed in from his work corner. "It's only an armored car but still it can pack quite a bit."

"Yes, I figure you would still have that one. No it isn't mobile enough…" The magistrate noticed that his dogi-clad brother was waving him and doing a hand signal. The shirt-wearing one palmed his face with one hand.

"Sorry, forgot," he said and chuckled slightly. "I didn't mean that kind of a tank. A tank can be a person who is heavy armored or in a robotic suit that is blast proof."

"Like a cyborg would you say?" Don asked with a raised eye-ridge. The Magistrate shrugged. The purple-masked one immediately went for a transmitter device that lay near the computer. Then pressed a button and held it close to his mouth.

"I'll wait with the explanations until we know if my cybernetic counterpart comes," Magistrate Raphael said, before he sat down, he extended a hand to Raphael. "Hi, I'm your counterpart, Magistrate Raphael, the black wearing Don is my brother and unfortunately the black wearing Leo is too."

"Uh yeah, I guessed." the formerly R-wearing turtle shook hands with the magistrate.

"Michelle! Don't, don't pick that up, put it down!" Suddenly a mechanical voice emerged from the transmitter Don was holding. "I'll be there in a minute! Michelle O'Neil!"

Everybody stared in Don's direction that was looking at the transmitter very unsure. The voice continued to emerge, talking to somebody. Then there was a crash and a canned groan.

"Children. Don, here is an advice, DON'T have them!" The mechanical voice finally addressed Donatello.

"I'll keep that in mind," the purple clad one said unsure. "Raphael am I calling at a bad time."

"Nah, didn't think you'll get that transmitter working tough. I'm hearing you loud and clear," the cyborg's voice told him.

"Uh yeah, I had some spare time. Anyway, Raphael, we are having a dilemma and might require your assistance." Don glanced around, everybody were still listening to the conversation.

"Dilemma? You know, every time you guys have a dilemma it isn't exactly a dilemma but a big problem. What is now?" the mechanical turtle said with a chuckle.

"We are, dealing with the assassin again," the purple-clad one explained and wasn't very surprised at the growl coming from the other end.

"Him again," the cyborg snorted. "Well… if any of you can baby-sit then sure I can come and help out."

"Baby…sit?" Don's brow rose high.

"Yeah, April had to leave town on a business and couldn't take Michelle, we are home alone… uh just one second." The cyborg was then heard shouting the girl's name. "We'll be over there in a second, Raphael out!"

Don turned off the transmitter and for a moment just stared at it. Then put it back on the table and glanced at his dogi-clad counterpart who stared back. Then the all black-clad turtle started to give hand signals.

"You sure? I mean it's only a month until she lays it," he said but the Ninja Master just nodded and then stood from the computer. Don took over the search while the dogi-clad one disappeared through a dimensional portal.

He returned shortly after and was Luna with him this time. The normal dark green Raphael was of course the only one who had never seen her, so his brow rose skywards when seeing the turtle woman.

 _Wow,_ he thought and his jaw dropped. The turtle hardly registered it when Raph reached with his hand and slapped his mouth shut.

"Ow!" the mask-less turtle glanced at his counterpart with a frown.

"Don't gawk to much, she's taken," the red-masked one said.

"Sorry," Raphael muttered and rubbed his jaw. Luna had been led to Master Splinter who was congratulating her on her pregnancy. "Don't worry about me, I have a girlfriend."

"You do?" Raph looked at his counterpart surprised and then grinned slightly. "Well spill it then, what's she like?"

"Oh, she's nice, funny, sarcastic, like me… well like I used to be." The mask-less turtle looked down. "She's a mutant like us, kind of a lizard."

"What's her name?" the red-masked one asked.

"Mona Lisa," Raphael said. "She was on a trip when we were kidnapped."

Raph was going to ask more but then the attention was brought to the elevator door. It was opening and out of it stepped a very familiar mechanical turtle. In his arms he was holding a small turtle child that stared around. The mask-less one's eyes opened wide in shock when seeing the cyborg.

"Well I'm here," the mechanical one said and walked into the lair.

"Welcome Raphael," Splinter addressed the cyborg who walked to the entertainment area. Michelle was now smiling and giggling.

"So who's going to be the unlucky bastard and handle the little speed-demon here," Raphael said with a grin on the organic part of the face. Luna who had been watching the Donatellos work stepped away from the work corner and approached.

"If you don't mind, I can take care of her, while you help them," she offered with a shy smile. The cyborg looked at her and nodded, then looked at Michelle.

"Daddy is going to help his friends, you are staying with An… I mean Luna," he told her. Michelle only looked at her father and then turned her head to look at the turtle woman.

The cyborg shook his head smiling and then proceeded to hand the child to Luna. Michelle didn't protest and only stared wide-eyed at Luna at first, then giggled and waved her arms. The mechanical one also dropped a bag to the floor, indicating that this was the child's stuff.

"Well I think I know everybody…" Raphael stated and then looked down at his mask-less counterpart who still stared shocked at the cyborg. "Except you."

"He's your counterpart, from another reality," Leonardo told him. The cyborg turned to the blue-masked turtle and then glanced over his shoulder at Raphael who sunk a little in the couch.

"Mind then telling me what is going on?" the mechanical turtle inquired.

Leo nodded and began explaining to him what had been happening for the past few days. The cyborg listened attentively and was quite surprised in the end when the tale had been told.

"H-he's alive?" the mechanical turtle whispered shocked.

"We believe at least it's possible, but the only one who knows for sure is Raphael," Leo explained and gestured to the mask-less turtle. "But he was drugged with something that caused his memory to be on a fritz."

"Ah crud, the memory substance. Let me guess, blank memory, seizures?" the cyborg turned to face his counterpart who slowly nodded.

"Raphael, did your brother make any cure for his condition?" Don asked looking up from the computer. The mechanical turtle glanced at him and the organic part of his mouth formed a nervous smile.

"Well, yeah in a manner of speaking," the cyborg said. Then he lifted his right arm, out of the knuckles came an all too familiar needle.

"Oh you have got you be kidding me," Don's face fell when seeing what the mechanical turtle meant. He cringed when Raphael shook his head, indicating that he was far from kidding.

"W-what, what's wrong?" the Raphael on the couch asked looking at his large counterpart and then the purple masked turtle.

"Apparently we can cure you of your seizure problem," Donatello told him and glanced at the mask-less turtle. "Unfortunately, it's very, very painful."

"What I would do," the cyborg said and turned to his counterpart. "I inject this needle into your beak. From there I proceed to connect with your brain. I'll download your memory and the whole process will effectively 'reboot' your brain. However, this is all very, very, painful. You'll survive but yeah you'll learn a new meaning of a headache."

"But will it restore his memory?" Leo asked.

"Somewhat, some of it could still be scrambled, but yeah some of it," the cyborg answered.

"What's on your mind?" the magistrate asked from his seat.

"We don't know how Raphael escaped, but if his memory was to be restored. We could find the ranch much easier. He can probably then remember locations so we can pinpoint where the place is," Leo said. Now everybody turned to Raphael who sunk down in the couch at the attention.

"Now I remember why I don't like attention that much," he muttered.

* * *

Mikey had a headache. He sat in the cell in the furthest corner from the door and had both hand on his head. The blue-greenish turtle cringed at the throbbing pain and occasionally a groan would escape from his lips.

 _Man I hate this,_ he thought and carefully glanced up. His cellmate sat nearby with his legs drawn up against his plastron and the arms wrapped around them.

"Dude, you wouldn't happen to have an aspirin around?" he joked and grinned weakly.

"W-wha?" Michelangelo looked up and stared at him confused.

"Never mind." Mikey dropped his hands to his sides and gritted his teeth. "Whatever he injected in me… it's worse than the last time he injected me with something."

"Bummer," his counterpart remarked and actually smiled slightly.

"Hey, he smiles. There is hope for him yet," the blue-greenish turtle said and chuckled, so did his dark green counterpart.

"W-when the chip isn't controlling me… when I'm in control… then sometimes," Michelangelo whispered and sighed heavily.

"So… you can actually think for yourself and stuff?" Mikey asked with a raised eye ridge.

"Yeah but every time that creepazoid gives me a direct order the chip is activated and I lose control," the dark green one told him.

"Strange, because I had a mind-control chip installed in me once too, but I couldn't do anything on my own, if I wasn't given something to do I was pretty much just standing around," the other turtle said. Michelangelo stared at him utterly confused. Mikey sighed and realized he had to tell this one about his last encounter with the emperor. So he did, of course with various arm movements and emphasis on what was said almost two years ago.

"Wow, you even met that creep assassin?" Michelangelo asked and his eyes bulged out when Mikey held up his right hand to show that it was three times, counting this event.

 _Damn headache._ The blue-greenish one then suddenly cringed as the throbbing pain came over him again.

"I-I'm sorry… I had to watch him inject that stuff into you." The other turtle grimaced when seeing his counterpart in pain.

"Hey it's ok dude, remember I have experience in mind-control, been there done that, didn't even get a lousy t-shirt." Mikey grinned and rubbed his right temple. "By the way, your bro Raphael says hi."

"You've met Raphael?" Michelangelo's eyes bulged out even more; he immediately scooted closer to his counterpart. "H-He's alive? The last time I saw him, he was being forced to be a prey for that crazy counterpart of his."

"Hold on, crazy counterpart of Raphael?" the other turtle frowned, having been still unconscious when the Demolisher was in the lab. Michelangelo nodded furiously.

"He's crazy, loves fighting and blowing things up. He has been beating Donatello up I know, had even that creepazoid do something to him so Donatello is apparently stronger than normal. Then he had Raphael be a prey and hunted him few times. But Raphael disappeared last time or so I was told, the assassin dude went to look for him but returned empty handed, he never said anything more," the dark-green one then frowned. "Wait a minute, the day after that he then brought you."

"Yeah, you see Raphael escaped to our world and we met him. The assassin had captured him and was dragging him back but we stopped him. Your bro is no doubt safe and sound in our lair," Mikey explained to his counterpart and then told him what had happened few days ago.

"He's the luckiest of us all," Michelangelo whispered and smiled. "We've been here for so long… poor Leonardo he's sits and stands now like the assassin orders him. I have no idea where Donatello is."

Mikey watched sadly when the tears started to crawl down his counterpart's cheeks. The dark-green turtle pulled his legs close and wrapped his arms around them again. He then buried his face in his knees and continued to cry, sobbing uncontrollably.

The blue greenish one hesitantly put one hand on Michelangelo's shoulder. The other turtle didn't seem to have noticed and just continued to weep.

"Hey it's going to be ok dude. I'm sure my bros and Raphael are already cooking up a plan to rescue us," he said as reassuringly as he could sound.

"M-Michelangelo," a voice whispered. Both turtles looked up and towards the plastic doors. Standing there was the dark-green turtle Mikey had identified as Leonardo.

The scarred turtle had both hands on the cell door and was staring sadly inside. Michelangelo sprang to his feet and rushed to his brother. He almost hugged the plastic door as he was trying to somehow go through it.

"Leonardo…" Michelangelo whispered. Leonardo smiled weakly and gently caressed the door with his right hand.

"Michelangelo… I-I'm sorry… I heard you scream," he said. His brother sniffled and swallowed a lump in his throat.

"It's ok compadre… none of us could do anything," the non-scarred turtle assured him, though there wasn't much resolve in his voice.

They continued to stare at each other, both with their hands on the plastic door. The tears started to slowly crawl again down Michelangelo's cheeks. Leonardo cringed when seeing his sibling cry. Warily he started to look around and then eyed the wall panel.

Mikey frowned from where he sat when seeing the scarred-one reach with his hand. Suddenly the plastic door slid up. Leonardo immediately stepped forward and drew his crying brother in a tight embrace. Michelangelo continued to cry on his brother's scarred shoulder.

"I… I w-want to…to go home," the crying turtle stammered. His older sibling just tightened his hold on him and nodded.

"I know Michelangelo… I know," he whispered and was fighting back his own tears.

The blue greenish turtle watched the two brothers for a moment but then eyed outside of the cell. He gritted his teeth at the pain still in his head but slowly stood up. Leonardo might just have opened an opportunity for them to escape. That opportunity was quickly squashed.

"What the hell do you think you are doing!" a chilly voice growled.

Leonardo stiffened up, his eyes opened wide in terror. However, he didn't let got of Michelangelo who saw were the assassin was stalking towards them. He as well tightened his hold on his brother.

The assassin arrived and violently separated them. The two brothers tried to protest and held each other desperately. Mikey growled and tried to approach, but the black clad one saw him and immediately pushed a button on the panel. The blue greenish turtle walked straight into a force field, he screamed when the electricity hit his body and was flung back.

"As for you," the assassin growled and finally jerked hard at Leonardo. The scarred turtle was thrown to the floor at the force. The black-masked one then grabbed a strangle hold on Michelangelo and threw him back into the cell. He pushed a button on the panel and the door went back in place.

Mikey groaned where he lay on the floor, now his whole body ached in addition of his headache. He hardly noticed when Michelangelo was back on his feet and hammering his fist at the glass door.

"No… No… Leave him ALONE!" he called. The assassin was approaching Leonardo, scowling hard at the terrified turtle that still lay on the floor.

"I…I… I just wanted to…" the scarred turtle whispered.

"Stand up," the black clad turtle ordered.

Leonardo gulped but obeyed. He couldn't stare back at his counterpart. Instead the turtle bowed his head and had wrapped his arms around himself. The assassin continued to regard him with a scowl on his face. He ignored the shouting coming from the cell.

"This will not do Pretty Boy, I didn't give you permission to see your brother," the black masked turtle said, his voice was very chilly and low.

"S-sorry… I'm sorry," Leonardo whined and closed his eyes. The scarred turtle was cringing, fearing his punishment.

The assassin sneered and then glared back towards the cell. Michelangelo was still pounding at the door shouting in desperation. The black clad one shook his head and turned back to Leonardo. Roughly, he grabbed his right upper arm and started to pull him away and to the exit of the room.

The scarred turtle didn't protest and allowed his tormentor to lead him away. He did glance back to his brother. Michelangelo froze when seeing his face. There was no hope or life in Leonardo's eyes. They were blank and void.

Michelangelo watched his brother being led out of the room. He leaned on the plastic door but then slowly sunk to his knees. The tears continued to stream down his cheeks. Finally he turned away to sit down, one hand palmed his face while the other was still pressed up against the cell door.

Mikey slowly sat up after recovering from his electrocution; he looked towards his crying counterpart. The turtle sighed and shook his head.

 _Guys, you had better hurry,_ he thought and grimaced once more at his headache.

 **End Chapter 6**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 25/05 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

"Ok… I'm done." The cyborg withdrew his hand and backed slowly away from the bed. Don stepped forward and began checking Raphael over, the mask-less turtle was motionless with a slight injection wound on his beak.

"Well the sedatives seemed to work, he didn't even twitch," the purple masked turtle said and glanced at the mechanical turtle. "So they didn't interfere at all?"

"No, no… it might even help him now." The cyborg gulped. "I saw him… he's alive, he's alive."

"So it is true." Donatello sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"No, no it's ok," the mechanical one put one heavy arm on his shoulder. "This is just something I should expect from him… when he's in his emperor form. Faking his own death is just what he would do, to avoid capture."

Leo walked in at that moment, following him was Raph and the magistrate. The blue-clad turtle looked at his olive-green sibling who nodded. He then turned to the cyborg that removed his arm of Don's shoulder and faced him.

"I have downloaded my counterpart's memory, it was very scrambled thanks to the damage the memory substance inflicted on him. But I have managed to rearrange it somewhat," the mechanical turtle explained and then gestured to his sleeping counterpart. "I know how he escaped and probably can help in locating the farm. We better let him rest; he's going to need it while his brain reboots. After all, he's been suffering from this for over five months."

"Five months?" Leo's jaw dropped, his brother's large counterpart nodded.

The Ninja Master tilted his head when hearing that. For a second rubbed his mask covered chin. He however made no sign to indicate what he was considering.

"Come, let's talk outside," the cyborg said and exited the infirmary. Everybody but Don followed him.

The purple clad turtle rubbed the back of his neck while regarding the sleeping turtle. Raphael had agreed to this after Don suggested they tried sedatives first. The cyborg had voiced that he wasn't sure if it would interfere or not. Nevertheless, he was still all for allowing his counterpart to sleep through this. Donatello wished he had been that lucky when subjected to this almost two years ago.

"Babu."

Don looked up from his thoughts and glanced to the doorway; he could have sworn he heard a voice. Frowning the turtle looked around but didn't see anybody.

"Babu."

"What the… oh." He realized he was looking too high and lowered his head. Now he could see were little Michelle was standing in the doorway, supporting herself on the frame. The child giggled and pointed at the turtle.

"Babu," she said. Donatello smiled and crouched down so he was pretty much in eyelevel with the child.

"Babu?" he asked with a raised eye ridge. Michelle giggled again and let go of the doorframe. Then very unsteadily, she began wagging towards him, but after the first few steps the turtle girl seemed to gain balance. The rest of the way she ran straight into Don's arms.

The turtle rose up holding the smiling child. Michelle had managed to grab one of his mask tails and was carefully inspecting it. Then she lifted it to show him.

"Babu!" she said almost sounding serious.

"Uh, no. Mask," the purple-masked one corrected her. He took the tail and shook it a little. "Tail, mask tail."

Michelle didn't answer just continued to look at him with her wide eyes. Then she lifted her tiny right hand and pointed at Don, poking him in the beak with her finger.

"Babu," she said.

"No, Donatello." he smiled and glanced to the doorway when Luna appeared in it.

"Oh there she is," the turtle woman said. "She is speedy for somebody who just began to walk about a month ago."

"She is?" Don asked and walked to the doorway. Michelle giggled and then held out her arms towards Luna. The male turtle transferred the girl to the woman.

"If she was calling you babu, then that's so far the only word she seems to know," Luna told him as she cuddled the child. Don just nodded and gently patted Michelle on the crown.

"In just few months, you'll have one of your own," he said with a smile. The woman nodded but then sighed.

"Nervous?" Don wondered.

"A bit," she whispered and looked at Don smiling uneasily. "What if… what if it's his?"

"The assassin's?" the purple masked turtle inquired, Luna nodded and glanced back at Michelle who was busy inspecting her nanny's plastron.

"Well, that's not the child's fault," Don said, a groan from the infirmary bed caught his attention. He smiled apologetically to Luna before leaving the woman and the girl in the doorframe.

Raphael was waking up, groaning as he did since there was still some stinging feeling from the injection. First his eyes opened only slightly but then they flew wide open and the turtle tried to rise up. Don was ready and held him down.

"Calm down, you need to rest," the purple masked one told the struggling turtle.

"Oh my god, I remember… I remember!" Raphael cried and slumped back down when Don wouldn't let him sit up.

"It's ok; the cyborg has your memories now as well. He's going to help with locating the ranch, you are supposed to rest," Don told him and patted him the shoulder. "Don't worry; it's going to be ok."

"Oh no… Donatello… he's… they did something to him; I don't know what they did. But he didn't recognized me, he would have attacked me if he hadn't been chained to that wall," Raphael gulped. "Michelangelo, something weird was done to him. Sometimes he was normal but then that olive green turtle gave him an order and he followed like an obedient dog."

 _Mind control chip._ Don gulped and remembered the chip that had to be removed from Mikey.

"But Leonardo… Leonardo I don't know what the assassin did, but Leonardo has no willpower any longer… he… he's…" Raphael suddenly shifted so he lay on his side with the back facing Don. "I'm a coward… I just ran away… I didn't even try to free them."

"Hold on Raphael. You probably had no choice, they were too powerful," Donatello said and patted him on the shoulder. "But we are going to help you get them back."

"I just ran, he told me to run. He forced me to run by shooting at me. Then he tried to hunt me down… so many times… but one day I managed to elude him… I ended up on a highway, stole my way into a truck that drove away… I tried to use that device but it wouldn't work." Raphael continued as if he hadn't heard the purple-clad one.

"Then I came to the city, I…I think I had a seizure attack there. I woke up in an alley, climbed to a rooftop… there he found me, the assassin. He managed to chain me and was trying to drag me away…" The dark-green turtle stopped and then turned slightly to look at Don. "T-then you guys came."

"How much do you remember now?" Don asked.

"A-Almost everything," Raphael whispered and turned back to face the wall. "Almost everything!"

"Just rest Raphael, I'll be right outside if you need anything," Donatello patted him on the shoulder and walked towards the exit. Luna was long gone with Michelle.

When the purple masked turtle left the infirmary, he noticed that everybody, safe for Luna and Michelle who were on the bridge, were gathered in the entertainment area. The cyborg was talking, as Don walked closer he heard him telling about Raphael's memories. He just caught the tail end of the story.

"He escaped to this New York. By the looks of it, he hid for two days before the assassin located him. During those two days he had a seizure attack that just continued to scramble his mind, thus he had no memory of how he escaped," the mechanical turtle finished.

"Ok, Leo has outdone himself now," the magistrate snorted. "Five months of this? What the hell is he trying to do?"

"Well he personally isn't doing much," the cyborg said as he began processing Raphael's memories again. "Yes… in fact he had very little interest in the others. He let my blood-masked counterpart have Donatello and my counterpart. My Donatello was handed Michelangelo. The assassin only took Leonardo but Raphael has no information on what he did to him. Though he has his suspicions."

"Wow, you're good," Magistrate Raphael said rather impressed. His mechanical counterpart got a little uncomfortable.

"Um yeah, just comes with practice, after all the rebellion members I had to interrogate and use my memory downloading capabilities on," he muttered.

"But why did he take Mikey then?" Leo asked. "If he isn't doing much."

"You must understand, Leo, Raphael had very little exposure to the assassin. He could only watch from the distance. His own counterpart, who mercilessly used him as a prey to hunt, was handling him not the assassin. Except for the first few days," the cyborg looked at the blue masked turtle. "I only know what my counterpart knew and saw."

"But at least we know where they are now," Raph growled and rose from the seat. He grabbed his sai and twirled it. "How about we go and get them."

"Don, Donatello and Raphael," Leo addressed his brother, the ninja master and the cyborg. "You three pin point the location of the ranch. I want us to be on our way in two hours."

"Right." Don looked at his dogi-clad counterpart who nodded and the cyborg simply shrugged. They three then went to the work corner. Leonardo stood up and looked at the magistrate and Raph.

"Is Deputy Michelangelo not going to join us in this?" the blue masked ninja asked.

"I'm afraid he's busy elsewhere," the magistrate said and smiled. "You'll just have to do with me and Don."

"Hey, you never explained why we would need somebody like the cyborg," Raph mentioned to his mask-less double.

"Oh that, our evil counterpart is explosion happy according to the files I found about him," Magistrate Raphael explained. "He always carries hand grenades and other explosives on him. That's why I figured we would need a tank that could take that kind of punishment."

"So we let the cyborg handle that one?" Leo glanced at Raph who sneered. "Ok, you and the cyborg handle that one."

"I can live with that." the red-mask turtle smirked.

"One wonders though, why did the assassin pick this world to hide in?" Master Splinter suddenly chimed in from his recliner. He was thoughtfully stroking his muzzle. He, Leo and Raph then all looked at the magistrate.

"Good question, he seldom lingers like this in a world with his own counterpart. It's almost like he wants to be… well close," the mask-less one said and scratched his head.

"Close, you mean close to us?" Raph asked confused. His counterpart shrugged.

Few minutes later the two Donatellos and the cyborg returned. All eyes went to them and Don stepped forward.

"We have a location," the purple masked one announced. Leo looked at Master Splinter and the old rat nodded.

"Alright then, prepare to leave," Leonardo ordered.

There were no complaints made, Raph immediately went for the elevator leading up to the warehouse accompanied by his magistrate counterpart. The cyborg followed the two Donatellos shortly later. Leo lingered for a moment and looked at Splinter.

"If all goes well, we'll return with Raphael's brothers and Mikey," he said and sighed. "But no telling in what condition."

"Do not worry about that now, my son. Go and get them out of there," the old ninja master said. Leonardo bowed and then took off for the elevator.

Splinter shook his head and rose up from his recliner. He noted that Luna still was on the bridge and holding Michelle securely. The woman and the child seemed to be looking at their reflection in the pool. The rat couldn't help but smile at the scene. The turtle woman was pointing down and so did the girl. The child seemed very excited to see her reflection move and every time it did she would giggle.

He turned away and headed for the infirmary, the old rat frowned when hearing the low sobs coming from in there. Walking inside Splinter noted that Raphael lay curled up in the infirmary bed and was crying.

"Raphael," he addressed the turtle and walked to the bed. "What is the matter?"

"Everything," the dark green turtle cried but didn't turn to face Splinter. "Everything is wrong."

"I take it you have recovered your memory." The elder drew a chair close to the bed and sat down. He could see a slight movement of the turtle's head in a nod.

"I'm a coward… bloody no good coward," Raphael finally said as he tried to stifle his sobs. "I just ran away, I didn't even try to rescue them. I just ran. I was so afraid. I was sure he was going to kill me."

"There is no shame in retreating, especially since with that retreat you could acquire help. My sons and their friends are now going to get your brothers," Splinter told him.

"They are already gone?" Now first did the turtle turn. He looked at the old rat startled and half rose in the bed.

"Do they know where to go?" Raphael asked. The ninja master nodded and the turtle sunk back down.

"But what then… what then?" the turtle whispered, he didn't seem very hopeful much longer. "I don't know if I can even get them back."

"We will help you," Splinter stated. "We agreed to help you and that is what we will do."

"How?" Raphael now lay on his back and stared up to the stone ceiling. There were still tears in his eyes, but he had stopped sobbing.

"We will find away," the old rat assured him.

* * *

"So we have this location confirmed?" the magistrate asked where he sat in the back of the Battle-Shell.

"Pretty much," Don answered, he was driving. Leo sat in the front seat but the rest was in the back.

"Donatello has already checked it out. This small ranch was bought about one and a half year ago. The buyer apparently chose to be listed as anonymous," the cyborg explained and gestured to the ninja master. The dogi-clad turtle nodded and then did hand signals. Essentially saying:

 _We had to hack into the system to see who the buyer was. Not surprisingly, it was paid in cash, fully paid on the spot. The name was Leonard; a man named, no surprise, Tony Roran, represented him._

"Figures," Magistrate Raphael grunted before he translated the message for the cyborg, his teenage counterpart and Leo.

"It's very secluded, the nearest neighbor is many miles away," the mechanical turtle continued. "Which fits since it took my counterpart half a day before he reached the highway and managed to get to the city."

"That means we might have to approach the rest of the way on foot," the magistrate said and looked at the cyborg. "How silently can you go?"

"VERY silently." A purple-masked turtle shot from the drivers' seat. The mechanical one grinned with his organic part of his face.

"He still remembers when I tried to clobber him," the cyborg said with a chuckle.

"It's kind of hard to forget." Don shot back.

"Anyway, our best bet it is to approach the ranch from the north. That's mostly forest land, easy to hide even for me," large turtle said. Then there was silence for a moment; the car passed the city limits before anyone spoke.

"There will only be three of them right? It isn't exactly like we are invading Foot Headquarters or somethin'," Raph finally broke the silence.

"Well." The magistrate bit his lips before continuing. "Knowing Leo, he'll be ready for anything."

"My Donatello shouldn't have much combat experience, not that I know of anyway," the cyborg mentioned. "But he seems to have Raphael's brother under mind control and thus can order him to fight us. And then there is my bomb happy counterpart."

"He might even have put Mikey again under mind control," Leo mentioned and shuddered at the thought. Remembering well when he had been forced to fight his own brother, even it was only for a short while. "That means there will be four of them with abilities to fight us."

"Possibly five," the mechanical turtle chimed in and gritted his teeth. The metallic sound could be easily heard. "Raphael's other brother. Donatello, something was done to him. By the looks of it, he'll look at anybody as his enemy. The last memory Raphael has of him is his Donatello chained to wall, ready to try and break free and go for his own brother's throat. We have to assume he's been somehow driven mad and thus potentially dangerous."

"Great," Raph growled.

"Still, we promised to get them out of there. That means try not to hurt any of those who bare close resemblance to Raphael, we know those are his brothers," Leo said glancing back. Everybody nodded in acknowledgement.

"We'll be there hopefully in an hour," Don mentioned. "So get ready."

* * *

 _What's going on? Why does this hurt? Hurts so much. Stop the pain. Stop the pain._ He paced around, grabbing his head with both hands. Growling at the throbbing pain.

 _Stop, stop, stop._ He shook his head wildly but it just magnified it. He sat down, gritting his teeth. The face disfigured in a scowl.

 _Pain, so much pain._ He snarled and flailed around, trying to rid himself of the pain.

Suddenly he heard a movement. His head snapped up and he began looking around. Somebody was outside the window, staring in. Heard a gasp and a voice.

"Donatello!"

 _Pain, shut up. Pain,_ he thought and sneered. Again the voice spoke but the sound hurt him, made the headache even worse.

With a growl he rose up and stared with murderous eyes at the window. It was barred but he could make out somebody standing there. Someone was staring inside, but he didn't care. He just wanted the pain to go.

"Donatello… it's me," the voice spoke again.

He narrowed his eyes and charged. His body slammed up against the wall as his hand forced its way between the bars. Tried to grab whoever was out there. There was a yelp and he just missed something that backed quickly away. He snarled and tried to reach further out, but then his arm was stuck. Struggling wildly he managed to pull it back in; the force was so much he fell to the ground.

"I wish I could have stopped them Donatello," the voice spoke again. "I watched you scream in agony when they injected you with this… I wanted to stop them… but… I couldn't."

 _Pain… the pain._ He still had the headache and the voice wasn't helping. Snarling he rose back up and attacked the window again. He could see somebody back away, staring fearfully at him.

"Donatello… it's me, Leonardo," the voice spoke.

 _Familiar… familiar… arrrg, shut up. Stop the pain._ He shook his head and started suddenly to bang it at the bars, growling and snarling.

"Stop Donatello, you are just hurting yourself," the voice pleaded.

 _Already hurting… so much pain._ He did stop and now just leaned up against the bars and glared outside. Somebody did stand there, staring at him with sorrowful eyes.

"You don't give up do you?" another voice. He growled and attacked the bars again. There was another there.

"P-please… I just wanted to…" the first voice was frantic.

"Wanted, wanted, you know you need permission to be here," the second voice snapped.

"I… wasn't…I wasn't going to do anything," the first voice cried.

He heard shuffling but ignored it and continued to attack the bars. There was a yelp and cry of pain. The throbbing just intensified with each attack. Finally, he sunk back down holding his head in his hands.

 _Pain, so much pain._ He gritted his teeth hard.

"What the hell do you think you are doing!" a third voice emerged from somewhere.

"He was sneaking around here again, seeing his brother," the second voice growled.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the first voice whined somewhere in the distance.

"I have told you before, don't lay your hands on him!" the third voice snapped. "If he's to be punished, it will be done by me."

"You let Donatello punish him when he snuck into the lab," the second voice snarled.

"He asked if he could and I figured then it would be a proper punishment. Not beating him into a pulp," the third voice shouted back.

 _Shut up, shut up._ He cringed and curled up on the floor. Why were these voices invading his sensitive mind?

"Well sorry, but this happens to be my space, so why can't I punish him," the second voice barked.

"I like you to ask permission first!" the third voice snapped. "It's mine to punish him."

"Well I didn't think I need to bother dragging him all over the house to look for you and ask for permission," the second voice argued.

"Leonardo get out, have Tony look at that," the third voice suddenly snapped. There was stifled cry but then soft footsteps as somebody walked away.

"You leave him alone," the third voice growled at the owner of the second one. Then there was silence.

 _Silence good… still pain._ He tried to sit up. However, the pain was getting unbearable.

* * *

"W-what are you doing?" Mikey asked. He was once more strapped down to a table. The ex-emperor stood over him holding a syringe.

"Just an antidote to the fluid I injected in you before," Donatello said and injected the needle in the turtle's arm. The blue-greenish one gritted his teeth at the momentary pain. Shortly later the headache was gone.

"Now, I'm going to need extract a tissue sample," the former overlord muttered and was about to turn away when noticing the shock on Mikey's face.

"Ah don't worry, you won't feel a thing. I'm not going to dissect you," he said and got out another syringe with a very long and thick needle. "Just need one sample."

The younger turtle cringed and braced himself. He was ready for extraordinary amount of pain, but he hardly felt it when the needle was injected to his side. He did feel slight pressure but nothing more. It was then he realized he had no feelings in his body. He was paralyzed.

"Additionally of being an antidote it puts most of your body to sleep, but you yourself is still awake," the olive green turtle explained to him and walked away with this sample.

 _Well, isn't he a considerate mad scientist,_ Mikey thought.

"If you really want to know, the first fluid I injected into you and caused you the headache was mostly to prepare your body. The antidote was just to cleanse any after effects it caused." The ex-emperor returned and regarded the turtle on the table.

"Your sample will help my cloning project greatly," he said with a smirk. Then lifted his right hand, it was clad in a strange glove that had a long needle on the knuckle. Connected to the glove were wires that led to a machine and a computer nearby.

"This is a crude version of the memory extractor that I built in my cyborg, but it works just as well." Donatello walked closer and clenched his gloved hand. Mikey would have frozen but he couldn't. Just stared back in shock.

"Since you are already paralyzed, you won't feel a thing, except maybe some stinging sensation in your head," the ex-emperor said and suddenly jammed the needle in the turtle's beak.

He gasped at the sudden sensation and definitely felt like something was crawling inside of his head. There was slight stinging, but it was more like pinching. Mikey cringed, but could hardly move his head. Finally though he heard a sound and the ex-emperor withdrew the needle.

"Thanks for your memories," Donatello said mockingly and turned away and started working on the computer.

"Yes, perfect. This will do," he muttered and finally disconnected a suitcase shaped box from the computer and carried it to somewhere else in the lab.

Mikey could only lay and listen, his mind was on an overdrive. Memories were all soaring through and suddenly he felt nothing for a moment. When he seemingly woke up, he was still paralyzed but now the ex-emperor was working again on the computer.

"W-what happened?" he whispered when the turtle could speak again.

"Your brain probably rebooted, you go in a semi catatonic stance then. Black out for a moment. Nothing serious, no after effects," Donatello answered him.

"What are you doing?" the blue-greenish turtle asked.

"Oh nothing serious, just preparing to clone you," the ex-emperor said casually and glanced back at his prisoner.

"W-what?" Mikey's jaw dropped.

"You heard me; unfortunately it will be months until it's ready. I don't have all my resources and equipment from my emperor days any longer," Donatello shrugged and turned back to the computer.

The strapped turtle gulped, this wasn't looking too good. However, his thoughts were halted for a moment when the assassin suddenly came walking into the lab, a mischievous smirk on his beak.

"We are going to have company soon, you ready?" the black clad turtle asked.

"I have moved the essential equipment and am in the process of getting the necessary data," the ex-emperor said.

"Good, Raphael and I will give them a little fight, see you then," the assassin said and disappeared out of the room. Mikey frowned, what had this meant?

"Michelangelo!" Donatello snapped and the dark green turtle came walking almost expressionless now.

"There will be company coming soon, I want you to stand guard in this laboratory. Attack anyone that tries entry," the ex-emperor ordered. The mind-controlled turtle nodded and suddenly the expression became grim on him.

 _What is going on?_ Mikey could only think. He didn't bother to ask, figured he wouldn't get any answers anyway.

 **End Chapter 7**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 26/05 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 8**

"Well this is it," Don whispered and peeked from behind a tree. On his head, he had planted his binocular goggles and was zooming on the buildings that could be seen across the field.

His dogi clad counterpart nodded. He had removed his mask and yellowish goggles and was using his own set of binoculars to see. There were three buildings, one main one and two others.

"No fences. But that's probably because this isn't a ranch with animals." the cyborg was slightly further away and scanning everything with his cybernetic eye. They were all in the edge of the forest that seemed to surround the ranch. There was though a large field between the edge and the nearest house.

"Not much concealment from here to there," Leo muttered, he stood beside the mechanical turtle. The blue-clad one was eyeing the field.

"Doesn't matter," Cyborg Raphael said and looked down at him. "There are landmines on the field."

"What?" The magistrate's brow rose high. Everybody, safe for Raph who continued to glare towards the ranch, glanced now at the large turtle.

"They are spread out at random, I doubt we can approach in silence anyway… wait," The cyborg stepped closer to the edge and leaned slightly forward.

"If you guys tried to approach from the western edge, there are no mines there. I'll distract those inside by setting of the mines here," he suggested.

"So much for element of surprise then." Leo frowned but looked at the magistrate who had placed his hand on his shoulder.

"We never had it in the first place," the mask-less turtle said. "Knowing my brother, he already is aware that we are here."

"Raphael, what about the eastern edge?" the blue masked turtle asked.

"Rigged and ready to explode," the mechanical turtle answered and shook his head. "I can't see the southern edge from here."

"All right then forget splitting up." Leo sighed but frowned. "Then again, Raph and the magistrate, you stay with the cyborg. He should be able to clear a safe path for you. Donatellos you come with me to the western edge."

With that the blue-clad turtle disappeared with the Ninja Master and Don. The two smaller Raphaels looked at their large counterpart who didn't seem to be doing anything. Finally Raph became impatient.

"Well?" he asked and gestured towards the field.

"Keep your shell on, I need to access my nanobots to put up a protection shield," the cyborg said.

"Nanobots?" the magistrate would have inquired further but soon his eyes bulged out. All the fleshy parts of the mechanical turtle suddenly started to look like they were embedded in metal. Now Raphael looked like a big robot.

"When my mechanical body was constructed it also came with protection programmed nanobots. They can form a temporary heat shield for my flesh parts. I will need them once I activate the landmines," the mechanical one explained and looked at his counterparts. He still moved normally despite is much more metallic appearance.

"Dare I ask why?" Raph questioned but his answer was very simple and straightforward. Before the smaller turtles knew it, the cyborg stepped out of the edge and simply began walking straight over the field.

"He's crazy!" The magistrate's jaw dropped. Suddenly there was a large explosion; dirt flew up all over the place. When it subsided, they saw were the cyborg stood for a moment and then glanced back.

"Just follow my path, just keep a good enough distance," he said not sounding the least injured. Then the mechanical turtle continued, triggering explosions all around him.

* * *

The Demolisher ran outside when hearing the explosions. He already had his hand on the shotgun and was ready to pull it up. The blood-red masked turtle stared over the field and was quite surprised to see an explosion after an explosion. That wasn't usually what happened. It was almost as if somebody was just simply walking across setting of the mines.

He almost dropped the gun when he saw the large metallic turtle approach through the flying dirt and dust. It was like nothing was exploding at all around him.

Finally once there were only few meters between them the large turtle stopped. Parts of the face and shoulders and legs became fleshy. Now an organic eye on the stranger narrowed on the smaller reptile.

"M14 anti-personnel mines?" the canned voice of Cyborg Raphael asked almost sounding insulted. "That won't even scratch my paintjob."

"Well then maybe this will," the blood-red masked turtle growled and grabbed a hand grenade from his belt. He quickly pulled the pin out with his mouth and threw it at the large turtle.

The mechanical turtle simply bent, shielding his face with one arm and his fleshy upper legs with his the other. The grenade landed and there was a large explosion. Dirt flew all over the place and the Demolisher had to back away shielding his face with his left hand. With his right he still held the shotgun.

"Raphael are you ok?" was called somewhere from behind. Now the blood-red masked turtle noticed two others approaching over the path of destruction after the landmines.

However, what startled him the most was the cyborg rising up again, completely unharmed from the grenade. The organic eye contained a hint of amusement and the flesh part of his mouth was grinning.

"What the hell are you made of," the Demolisher growled and now aimed his shotgun and fired. He clearly hit the metal plastron but the cyborg didn't even budge. Just tilted his head slightly as if he was waiting.

"Oh, sorry, you already fired," the mechanical one said mockingly. Now the magistrate and Raph had caught up with him. One brought up his Butterfly swords and the other had his sai.

"The Demolisher I presume." Magistrate Raphael narrowed his eyes on the still stunned turtle.

"Maybe." He finally recovered and sneered. Quickly he grabbed a handgun from his belt and fired as he made a break for it. The cyborg was quick to act and shielded his counterparts with his arms. The bullets bounced off the metal. The three Raphaels then immediately started to pursue their fleeing counterpart.

* * *

Leo and the Donatellos immediately started towards the building once the explosions started. It looked to be the main one; it wasn't the biggest but looked more like someone lived in it.

They approached the back entrance, but Don and the Ninja Master carefully examined it for booby traps before entering. They came in a small hallway, at the end were stairs leading up. Leo glanced at the two other turtles before heading onward. There were only two doors and both lead to empty rooms. So they continued towards the stairs.

Before Leo could continue up, the dogi-clad one stopped him and gestured to himself. He then pulled out a single Jo staff and tip toed up the steps. After making sure nobody was on the hall, the Ninja Master gave the others a signal that the coast was clear. Leo and Don carefully climbed up both ready to pull out their respective weapons.

Once up they could go in several directions. There were other stairs leading further up the building and the hall went into three directions. Leo frowned; he really didn't want to split them up. He wasn't sure if he wanted to meet the black-clad turtle alone.

The Ninja Master took the decision in his own hands. He pointed at himself and then gestured to one direction of the hall. He made a motion to the brothers they go another way together. Leo nodded, of the three of them; the dogi-clad turtle was the most experienced and skilled to face off his brother alone. Don and he decided to take the stairs first and went up. The Ninja Master went down the hall.

Donatello sneered under his head mask and pulled out his other Jo staff as he entered a room. It was large, painted red, in it was a single cell and further inside was another door. The dogi-wearing turtle walked closer to the cell and made a note of the panel close by it. This was the torture chamber from Raphael's description.

Nobody was in it so the Ninja Master ignored it for now and headed for door. He stood by the wall before carefully opening the door slowly and silently. Peeking inside he recognized the familiar surrounding of a laboratory. There was a turtle standing there in the middle of the room, motionless. It had strong resemblance to Raphael back in the lair; this had to be his brother.

Yet he didn't go in right away, he remembered the cyborg mentioning that one of them was mind controlled. This one looked to be the most likely candidate, sure looked to be on guard. Then dogi-clad turtle noticed Mikey who lay strapped on a bench or a table. Donatello gritted his teeth at the sight and hoped the turtle that looked so much like his twin-brother was all right.

Carefully he opened the door all the way and sneaked inside. He quickly ducked behind a counter when the unknown turtle turned. Based on descriptions and what had been told, Donatello was sure this was Michelangelo. The only scars he had were a surgical one on his temple and an old scar on his thigh.

"Door open?" he heard the mind-controlled turtle say, the voice was empty and distant.

He carefully tried to make his way so he was behind Michelangelo. Mikey was motionless on the table, but then again he couldn't move much anyway with the straps on.

Donatello slowly rose and prepared to try to knock out the turtle with his staff. Suddenly Michelangelo turned and blocked the blow with and arm. The turtle didn't even wait and immediately attached the Ninja Master with a kick. The dogi-wearing ninja managed to jump back before it landed and now spun his Jo staffs.

"W-watch out," Mikey suddenly dropped his head sideways to see what was going on. "He's mind-controlled, can't help what he's doing."

 _Yeah, I guessed that,_ Donatello thought as he blocked a punch from the other turtle.

* * *

"How was I supposed to know it was an attic?" Leo muttered as he and Don made their way back downstairs. They had discovered that the upstairs led to nothing. The two turtles made their way in the opposite direction and the Ninja Master had gone in.

They found what had once been a living room. There were obvious sign that it had been destroyed. One wall looked like it had seen better days and was poorly constructed. In front of it was a large black spot and remains of what had once been a TV.

The brothers ignored it and continued onward, but they slowed down when hearing a voice. Silently they sneaked closer and peeked inside an open doorway, both were surprised to see just a single turtle in a kitchen. He was sitting by the table and was talking to himself. Nobody else was in there.

 _Is that Leonardo?_ Leo noticed that this turtle bore resemblance to Raphael; safe that he had scars on his shoulders and arms, also there was a line on his plastron. His beak looked to have been very recently mended as it had bandages on it.

Seeing nobody else, the two brothers stepped inside. Leonardo immediately looked up and froze at the sight of his counterpart. Then immediately scooted further inside on the bench he sat on, keeping a fearful eye on the blue-clad turtle.

"Sorry… Tony told me to stay here… I didn't know…" he apologized and flinched as if he was ready for punishment.

"Ah, I think he thinks you are the assassin," Don whispered to his brother who stared confused at the dark-green turtle.

"Oh." Leo remembered that he shared both voice and looks with the black-clad one, although his voice didn't sound so growl like. The blue-masked ninja glanced at Don before looked back at his counterpart.

"Come with us, we are leaving," he simply said, hoping Leonardo would just simply obey. He did, though with a cringe and carefully approached them, eyeing Don fearfully and hardly daring to look straight at Leo.

The turtles left the kitchen and entered the hall once more. They couldn't get any further. Blocking their way further ahead was the assassin. The black-clad turtle had a devious smirk on his beak. Leo and Don both sneered and got ready with their weapons. Leonardo on the other hand stared confused at the two basic-green turtles.

"I figured some of you would make their way here," the assassin said and reached for his katana.

"You have gone too far now," Don snapped.

"Where is Mikey?" Leo asked as he growled.

"Oh, Mikey is probably in the lab with Michelangelo. I told Emperor Donatello to leave them there, oh and did you know I really never killed him," the assassin said and slowly drew up his weapon.

"We had figured that one out," the purple masked one snorted. The black-clad turtle nodded.

"Good, very good. You see, as soon as you closed your eyes Donny, I shot the emperor with my dart gun as I fired from my rifle that contained a blank shot. The darts are small and you couldn't see it from where you were sitting. As well as you were too shocked to notice that there was no blood," the black masked one explained and chuckled. "Oh I loved your expression when you thought I had killed him."

Don didn't answer jut gritted his teeth. He recalled being horrified when pretty much witnessing another murder by the assassin's hands. Now learning it had just been a ploy to make people think the ex-emperor was dead just made him angry.

There was a momentary interruption; suddenly a beeping sound came from the assassin's utility belt. Frowning the black-clad turtle picked up a communicator. He operated it while still keeping an eye on the other turtles.

"I'm kind of busy," he growled.

"I don't care. YOU didn't say ANYthing about an indestructible robot turtle!" an angry voice shouted over the line, it sounded almost similar to Raph's voice.

"Robot?" The assassin's brow rose and then he realized. "You guys brought the damn cyborg?"

"We did." Now Donatello grinned; Leo couldn't help but smile as well. Clearly their enemies had not taken that into consideration.

"Dammit, Raphael, try to keep them busy for a little while longer and then fall back. You know were we are meeting," the assassin growled in the communicator and then put it back on the belt. Then he got ready with his sword and resumed his smirk.

"Sorry about that, where were we?" he said.

* * *

"Keep them busy," the demolisher growled and ran into the large building. It was a barn, though it seemed to have been remodeled as a training room. In one corner was cell with a barred steel door.

The blood-red masked turtle looked back as he rushed towards the cell. The cyborg was bursting in and right behind him were the magistrate and Raph. Growling the Demolisher removed the bars and then simply kicked the door down. Quickly he then jumped aside.

The cyborg halted when a bulky turtle came stalking out of the cell. It bore physical resemblance to Raphael but this one looked much more massive. There was also a mad glint in his eyes. The mechanical turtle accessed the memory files and realized that this was Donatello.

The magistrate and Raph stopped short when seeing the dark-green turtle, but the red-clad ninja then glared towards his blood-red masked counterpart. He was trying to flee from a back entrance of the barn.

Donatello growled and charged towards them. The cyborg gritted his teeth, it was clear the turtle had little idea what he was doing. He simply eyed anything that moved as enemies. He had to be stopped somehow without inflicting too much harm on him.

"You guys handle this one, I'll go after the explosive happy bastard," Raph growled and quickly jumped aside when the bulky turtle attacked. The cyborg immediately grabbed for Donatello but he was very quick.

Raph in the meantime ran towards the back entrance and followed his counterpart outside. He was forced to duck back inside when a bulled just missed him. The hot-tempered turtle growled, waited for a moment before looking outside. His counterpart was fleeing towards the other building. Snarling the red-clad one left the barn and followed.

The magistrate and the cyborg had their hands full with Donatello. The bulky turtle was quick, agile and strong. The mechanical one tried simply to grab for him, knowing that would put short any battle, but the dark-green reptile kept his distance.

The mask-less Raphael had already put his butterfly swords away and hoped to wrestle the apparently mad turtle down. Donatello only made very short attacks, trying to push or kick him down before backing away and try the same with the cyborg.

"This isn't working, we don't dare hurt him and yet we have to fight him," the magistrate growled in frustration once the dark-green turtle managed to kick him down.

"He has to be have been injected with some sort of steroids and something else that apparently is messing with his mind, he looks to be in pain." The cyborg noted when Donatello suddenly grimaced before shaking his head and attacked once more.

"Try keeping him busy," the mechanical one growled as he threw the turtle off. Donatello was flung back but landed on his feet. He tried to attack once more but the magistrate threw himself at the mad turtle. Now they wrestled on the floor.

Cyborg Raphael in the meantime sunk his right hand into the arm. Out came the machine gun barrel. The mechanical turtle took one look at it to make sure the setting was on stun. Then looked up, Donatello had managed to rip himself free and stand up. The magistrate lay on the floor disoriented after having his head knocked up against the stone floor.

"Good night Donatello." The cyborg aimed his arm and shot just as Donatello turned to face him. The beam hit him on the plastron and the turtle was flung back and crashed on the floor. The magistrate rose up while keeping his eye on the now seemingly unconscious turtle.

"Phew good thing you had…" he got silent when the supposedly knocked out turtle suddenly looked up with a sneer on his face.

"Oookay, stun doesn't work." The cyborg frowned with his organic part of the face.

"This is going to take a while," Magistrate Raphael muttered as he stood up. So did Donatello, growling even more.

* * *

"Yikes." Mikey cringed when the Ninja Master crashed on the table he was strapped on.

The dogi-clad turtle was having great difficulties to knock Michelangelo out as he had intended to do. The dark green turtle was quick and agile, plus he utilized his ninjitsu moves in his attacks. Donatello couldn't always get a clear shot as his opponent blocked them.

"You know, I think the chip is voice activated. Maybe if we could… oh never mind," the blue greenish one remembered now that this Don couldn't talk.

However, that did seem to give the Ninja Master an idea. He managed to kick Michelangelo away so the turtle was thrown across the room. Then quickly the black covered turtle turned to the table and began removing the straps that held Mikey's hands.

He only managed to free the right before Michelangelo had recovered and attacked once more. However, that was enough; the dogi-clad one led the fight away from the table to give Mike room to get free. The blue greenish one was quick to free his other hand, his waist and then his feet. As he sat up on the table, he was surprised by suddenly seeing his counterpart come flying. Donatello had managed to grab a hold on the turtle and flung him at Mikey.

The two turtles dropped from the table and Michelangelo was more than happy to take on a new opponent. They wrestled for a while on the floor before Mikey managed to free himself and jump to his feet. His counterpart followed suit.

"What shell was that all about?" the blue-greenish one asked as he was forced to defend himself from the mind-controlled turtle.

The dogi-clad one was now in front of the computer and madly tapping on the keyboard, occasionally sparing a glance at the fight. The two Michelangelos were rather evenly matched, but Mikey seemed a bit quicker.

The Ninja Master glared at the computer screen but then smirked underneath his mask. He had found what he was looking for. Quickly he began working on the program he had found and then grabbed a wireless microphone that lay nearby. Then swiftly approached the fight and shoved the device towards Mikey.

"What? You want me to speak in that?" the blue-greenish turtle asked confused as he ducked a punch from his counterpart. But that was enough; Donatello turned away and returned to the computer.

"Jeez, can't I even be filled in on what you are doing?" Mikey asked while trying to kick Michelangelo. "Dammit stop, I don't want to fight you!"

The dark-green turtle came to complete halt much to his counterpart's surprise. The blue-greenish turtle stared confused at the now still ninja and then looked at Donatello. The Ninja Master was dusting off his gloved hands and staring in their direction.

"Uh ok, what just happened?" Mikey asked and approached the dogi-clad turtle. He eyed his still counterpart warily.

Donatello pointed at the screen on the computer. The younger turtle looked at it and saw to his surprise a program, identified as being voice command program. The Ninja Master then pointed at a small transmitter that was on the computer screen, finally gestured to Michelangelo.

"Uh… so, you can change the voice command in this here, the computer then sends the new command to him," Mikey asked and looked at his brother's counterpart who nodded.

"Wow… whoa," the blue greenish turtle suddenly stumbled backwards when he got a dizzy spell. Donatello quickly grabbed him and helped him sit on a chair. "I guess whatever he injected in me hasn't completely worn off."

The dogi clad turtle just nodded and then pulled out his own dimension traveler from inside his suit. Mikey raised an eyebrow when the Ninja Master then operated a portal and made a notion for him to go through with Michelangelo.

"Uh, I can't just leave, I have to help you guys." Yhe younger turtle protested and tried to rise up. Donatello shook his head and put both hands on his shoulders, then pulled out a note and a pen and scribbled on it, handed it to Mikey.

 _Please, we better get them out of here as quickly as possible. As well as you are still under some effects of whatever was done to you. This portal will lead to my house back in my world. It's best that you take Michelangelo with you since he obeys you now. I'll then come and fetch you and take both of you back home. By all means make yourself at home in my house._

Mikey looked at the note and then at the black covered turtle. He sighed and stood up. He looked towards his counterpart. It felt strange having to order him around to get him moving, but at the moment that was the only way.

"Ah, ok come one dude, we are leaving," he said. Michelangelo immediately turned towards him. Mikey gestured to the dark-green turtle to come and they were soon gone through the portal.

Donatello nodded as he watched the gateway close. He put his traveler back inside the dogi and retrieved his Jo staffs. He had laid them up against the computer desk while working on the machine. Spinning one staff the turtle finally left the lab.

* * *

"A crap." The magistrate looked at his destroyed dimension traveler. He and the cyborg had finally managed to subdue Donatello. The dark-green turtle lay now sprawled on the ground unconscious.

"I can transport him, then take him straight to the lair," the cyborg said as he picked up the ninja.

"But then we'll lose you, the Demolisher is still unaccounted for," the magistrate said.

"I'm sure you guys can handle it from here," the mechanical turtle said and opened the shoulder compartment and retrieved his remote from there. "You know the plan, once we get a turtle; try to transport him away quickly as possible. Your dimension traveler is busted so that means we have to use my personal transpad."

"All right, I guess you are the only one who can contain him anyway," Magistrate Raphael said with a sigh. He pulled out his Butterfly swords and spun them while looking around. "I guess I'll look for our teenage counterpart and the Demolisher."

"Right, see you at the lair." The cyborg nodded and operated the remote; he and Donatello were then engulfed in bright light. Soon they had been transported off the scene.

The magistrate took a deep breath before he went for the back entrance of the barn and glanced out. He could hear fighting from the other building. Shaking his head he stepped outside and ran for the house in the distance.

Before he reached it, he witnessed a full-fledged fight between Raph and the Demolisher. Both were armed with Sai, though the red masked one was holding two while the other only wielded one.

The magistrate couldn't tell who was angrier; both their faces were disfigured in a sneer and both yelled curses at each other. Raph was at better advantage with two weapons, but the Demolisher was doing fairly well with only one.

Spinning his Butterfly swords the magistrate charged towards the fight. The Demolisher had managed to kick the younger turtle away so the red masked ninja was flung back.

Magistrate Raphael roared as he jumped and was spinning his swords wildly. The Demolisher just barely managed to turn and block the swings from his mask-less counterpart.

Raph jumped to his feet and took a moment to watch the new fight. His brow rose slightly when seeing how fast and skillfully the magistrate swung the small bladed weapons. His hands were almost invisible as he hewed and sliced, it was taking everything the Demolisher had to defend against these attacks.

Growling the teenager spun his sai and ran towards the fight. He saw when the magistrate suddenly crouched and spun; trying to sweep kick the blood-red masked one off his feet. Tthe Demolisher jumped back and twirled his own bladed weapon.

He continued to back away as the two other turtles approached him. But then he grabbed up a remote and pressed the button on it. This halted his advancing counterparts.

"You better hurry and get your friends, you got about fifteen minutes. In five minutes the barn blows up, five minutes after that the workshop and five minutes after that the main building," the Demolisher announced and then darted off towards the forest.

"You go after him, I'll get to the others," the magistrate said and immediately darted towards the main building. Raph growled before heading after his blood-red masked counterpart.

 **End chapter 8**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 28/05 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

"Sorry about that, where were we?"

The Ninja Master heard said as he was back in the hall. Further up ahead he could make out where Leo and Don were facing somebody. Standing in a doorway, looking utterly lost and confused was a scarred turtle that looked otherwise like Raphael and Michelangelo.

 _Must be Leonardo,_ the dogi-clad turtle thought and immediately rushed forward. He sneered when he saw it was the assassin the other turtles faced.

Leo and Don seemed to hesitate; this wasn't exactly the best place to attack as a group, but the Ninja Master pushed past them and immediately charged for the assassin with his Jo spinning.

"Oh Donny, you're here too," the black masked turtle smirked and blocked the incoming staffs with his katana.

They began a fierce match in the hallway, each trying to swing their weapon at his opponent. They blocked, kicked, punched and crashed into the walls several times. At one point Donatello managed to kick the assassin further down the hall. He turned and swiftly did a hand signal.

"He wants us to leave with Leonardo," Don translated. Leo, who had been on his way to aid the Ninja Master, halted and looked at his brother.

"We can't leave him alone, you take Leonardo, I'll help your counterpart," the blue-masked turtle said and prepared to advance towards the fight.

"Leonardo. Come with me." Don turned to the scarred turtle who glanced at him fearfully.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the purple masked one said kindly and smiled. "I'm going to take you away from this place, see your brother Raphael."

That seemed to snap Leonardo into focus. He actually smiled when hearing the name. He stepped out of the doorway and approached Don who was slowly backing away, just in case the assassin tried to make a break for it in their direction.

"Where do you think you're going!" the black-masked one called when noticing Leonardo walking away. The scarred turtle froze in place. Don frowned when seeing how empty and lifeless his eyes suddenly became.

"Far away from you," Leo growled as he joined the dogi-clad one in fighting the assassin. The black masked turtle was forced to back even further away.

"Leonardo, follow Donatello," the blue masked ninja then called, hoping that his voice was good enough. Then he quickly attacked to try to prevent the assassin from saying anything.

Don decided though not to wait for that to happen. He quickly grabbed Leonardo's arm and began pulling him away. The scarred turtle didn't try to fight back, but his expression hadn't changed either. The purple masked one didn't pay attention to that, he just concentrated on reaching the stairs down and get out.

The Ninja Master gritted his teeth as he continued to push the assassin further back. He had wanted to throw his dimensional traveler to his younger counterpart, but hadn't had the chance. Now the purple masked one and Leonardo were quickly leaving the scene.

Leo was still there and helped preventing the black-masked turtle to go after the others. They all three ended up in a back room. It was mostly empty, but a window was in the back. Part of the forest could be seen outside in the slight distance.

* * *

On his way inside Magistrate Raphael met up with Don and a scarred turtle in the hallway he entered. He halted for a moment but then remembered the bomb threat and rushed towards them.

"Hey where are the others? We need to get out of here, this whole place is rigged just like the factory nine months ago," the magistrate said.

"Leo and your brother are fighting the assassin; we didn't get a chance to ask about the Michelangelos. But I think he got to them," Don said though he didn't sound sure. Then he gestured to other turtle. "This is Leonardo."

"Great, you two get out," Raphael ordered and rushed past them. Don didn't respond and continued to drag Leonardo out of the building.

The magistrate on the other hand followed the sounds of battle. As he raced through the hallway on the second floor, he heard a loud crash. The mask-less turtle frowned and accelerated his pace. He soon entered a back room and noticed immediately the broken window and one of Leo's blue handled katana.

Going to the window he was surprised to see the assassin, Ninja Master Donatello and Leo now outside. The blue masked one was still rising up after the fall, but the two other turtles were already up and fighting fiercely. The dogi-clad turtle was forcing the black-masked one towards the forest.

Growling Raphael turned but received with another surprise. Right behind him stood ex-emperor Donatello and the assassin's servant Tony. The olive-green turtle in the lab coat was holding a gun and aimed it at the magistrate.

"Don't try, I'm a fairly good shot," Donatello said with a smirk. "Drop your swords."

Raphael sneered and glanced back to the window. He would probably injure himself in the process of jumping through. The turtle then glanced back at the former overlord and the human. He threw down the Butterfly swords.

"Tony, tie him you know the plan," the ex-emperor said and gestured to the brown-shirt wearing one.

"Yes sir," the human just nodded and from behind his back produced restrains.

 _Crud._ The magistrate glared at the gun. The finger was ready to press the trigger and this was Donatello's counterpart, no telling how quick he was. He eyed Tony who stood now behind him and was tying his hands behind the carapace.

Once looking forward Raphael almost groaned, the former overlord was handling a dimension traveler and had already opened a portal. The turtle mentally cursed his world for allowing such easy access to dimension traveling technology. But then again, it was now common to take your family on a vacation to another world.

Tony pushed at him, indicating him to move towards the portal. As well as the former emperor gestured to the portal with the gun.

"Quickly now," Donatello grunted and pushed the magistrate through the gateway, he and Tony followed and shortly later it collapsed.

* * *

"I know you're there somewhere," Raph growled as he stalked through the trees. His blood-red masked counterpart had so far managed to avoid him.

"Maybe I am," a voice addressed him. "But you aren't going to get me easy. Didn't train with the marine corps for better half of my life to have some teenage ninja get the better of me."

"Oh a military guy," Raph snorted even though he actually knew that tidbit about his counterpart.

Then he saw something come flying. The red masked turtle froze for a split second and then threw himself away. The explosion wasn't large but enough to fell a nearby tree and throw dirt all over the place.

"That's all ya got?" the very dark green turtle snorted as he rose up. The object had come from the north, so he headed that way. Although it did cross his mind that his counterpart could have changed direction.

"Must suck to have to hide all the time," the voice called, Raph was definitely sure it came from the direction he was heading in.

"I never had to hide. I went to school and had a real life, just like any other human," there was a chuckle. The red-masked one gritted his teeth but said nothing.

Suddenly there was a large explosion coming from the south. Raph on reflexes threw himself down, but then realized that it had been too far away. He heard laughter, a mad one. Growling and cursing the turtle rose up again and eyed to the south.

"That was the barn," his counterpart called. "In five other minutes the workshop will go."

"You had better hope that no harms come to my brothers, or my friends," Raph growled. He made his way in the direction he had heard the voice. A chuckle further off caught his ears.

"Speaking of brothers, mine are still in the army safe for Don, he's in the CIA, tech division. Leo is in the navy and Mikey is a pilot," the voice continued.

 _Yeah, like I care what your brothers are doing._ Raph shook his head. He quickly ducked behind a tree when there was gunfire and a bullet just missed him. This guy was really starting to piss him off.

"There are other mutants as well." The voice was definitely further away now.

Suddenly his shell-cell began ringing. Raph growled and picked it up. As he operated it, the turtle glanced around hoping to spot his counterpart.

"What is it?" he grunted in the phone.

"Raph? It's me Don. I have Leo's counterpart in the Battle-Shell now, but I haven't heard from the others yet. Leo isn't answering his Shell-Cell and the magistrate mentioned something about bombs," his purple masked brother said. Raph sighed in frustration.

"I'm kind of busy trying to get that Demolisher guy," he then answered. The sound of a large explosion caught his attention.

"Wow, I heard that over here," Don said.

"Me too," his red masked brother remarked.

"Well that was the workshop, now its five minutes until the main building goes," the Demolisher called. He was much further away now.

 _Damn it._ Raph glared in the direction of where his counterpart could be in and then in the general direction of the ranch.

"Raph, I'm a little worried. I dare not leave Leonardo alone, not in his state," Don chimed in through the phone.

"All right, I'm going to check on them," Raph growled and hung up. He spared one glance were he thought his counterpart was before rushing back towards the ranch. Ignoring the laughter that followed.

* * *

Leo had thrown himself to the ground when the explosion had occurred. That had been the barn. The blue masked turtle frowned as he rose back up. The fall had been bad enough but now the buildings were exploding. The Ninja Master and the assassin had long since disappeared into the forest in their fierce fight. Leo started after them, but then realized one of his swords was missing.

 _No time to look,_ Leo thought. He could just make out between the trees were the dogi clad turtle was in a fierce battle with the black masked one.

"Donatello, are the Michelangelos still in the building?" he called as he approached the scene of the fight. The Ninja Master managed to spare a second to look at him and shake his head. The blue masked ninja grabbed for his shell-cell but learned it had broken in the fall. He grunted and put the phone back on his belt. Then he headed of towards the battle.

It had started to take an ugly turn. The dogi-clad turtle had cuts all over his uniform and blood was dripping from his wounds. The assassin didn't look any better; he had bruises and gashes, yet he continued to smile. They battle was now much more fierce and Donatello already had lost one Jo staff

Leo tried to eye an opening to get in the battle, but the two other turtles were moving very fast and the Ninja Master always managed to block his way. Finally when the blue-clad one thought he could get in there was another explosion, closer.

"I hope nobody was in that workshop," the assassin remarked as he pushed against Donatello's Jo with his katana. "The main building is next, within the next five minutes."

 _The Raphaels,_ Leo thought and was almost tempted to turn and go look for them.

His attention was drawn back to the battle and he frowned in concern; the assassin was hacking madly with his sword. The dogi-clad one was forced to constantly block it with his remaining staff and it was quickly giving away. Soon it had been cut in half. The assassin then tried once more to slice down with his sword but Donatello saw through it. Quickly he used one half of the staff to block the weapon, the other he used to impale the black masked turtle in the left eye.

Leo froze at the sight, his counterpart roared when the staff went into his left eye socket. Quickly the assassin backed away and the staff-half dropped to the ground. The dogi-clad one tried to hit his opponent with the other half, but the older turtle blocked it with his sword.

The assassin was now grimacing in pain and held his left hand over the damaged eye. Yet he kept on fighting using his right hand for a moment. Donatello tried constantly to hammer the remaining half on him. The black masked turtle growled and removed his hand from the eye. Holding now his sword with both hands, he once more began fiercely hewing and slicing. It was taking the Ninja Master all he had to block the strikes.

Leo took a deep breath, readied his remaining sword and began charging forward, but for the second time he froze solid. The assassin managed to land a kick on the dogi clad one. Donatello staggered backwards and didn't notice the sword in time. It came crushing down and sliced his right hand clean off, the one holding the staff-half.

"Donatello!" the blue masked one shouted when his brother's counterpart fell down holding his mutilated limb.

The assassin glared towards his younger counterpart with his remaining eye and then took off, disappearing into the forest. Leo was forced to ignore him; if nothing was done the Ninja Master would bleed out.

The dogi-clad turtle was already at work. He had removed his mask and was trying to put it over his serious wound, gritting his teeth and grimacing in pain. Leo knelt down beside him and helped him try stopping the bleeding, but he knew they would have to get him help soon.

 _Damn that assassin,_ Leo thought as he used his own mask to properly tie the other mask. He wasn't sure though if this would hold for long.

Donatello patted him on the shoulder with his left hand, but it was very weak. Then the dogi-clad turtle patted his chest, trying to indicate something. Leo raised an eye ridge but figured he knew what he meant. Carefully he managed to retrieve the Ninja Master's dimensional traveler from inside the uniform. Gulping the younger turtle looked at the now very weak reptile.

"Leo!" a voice shouted. Leo looked up and saw Raph come running. The red-masked turtle skidded to halt and his eyes opened wide at what he saw.

"Quick, we have to get him out of here," the blue-clad one said and glanced at the traveler. How was he supposed to activate it? Donatello grabbed the traveler from him with his left hand, and managed to push a button. A portal opened in front of them.

"I'll call Don, tell him to get the shell out of there, he's there with your counterpart," Raph said and picked up his Shell-cell.

"Where are the Magistrate and the Cyborg," Leo asked as he tried to help the Ninja Master to stand up.

"They were handling Donatello's counterpart, they probably got out a while ago," the red-clad ninja grunted while waiting for Don to answer.

"Don? Raph here, drive the truck off, head home. Leo and I are taking a portal, your counterpart is wounded and the others have probably escaped already. Just get the shell out of there," he said as soon as there was an answer on the other line. Then Raph hung up and immediately went to help his brother carry the Ninja Master through the portal.

* * *

 **Assassin's world**

"What happened to you?" the ex-emperor asked when the assassin came stumbling through a portal, holding one hand over his left eye.

"Bloody no good brother of mine, that's what happened," the black clad turtle growled. Tony appeared at his side and immediately guided his master to a chair. Leonardo sat down, removed his mask and took his hand away from the eye.

"Ouch." Donatello cringed when seeing the damage. "I don't think that's possible to fix."

"I figured," the assassin snapped. "If you haven't anything constructive to add, then BEAT IT!"

"Temper," the former overlord muttered and left the room.

The assassin snarled something but didn't say anything. He let Tony start patching up his wounds, the whole time he was cursing and growling in his mind. His servant was a quick worker, soon all of his cuts were mended and his left eye covered for now. The human helped Leonardo stand up.

"We did capture him sir," his servant said. "He's in the hobby room."

"So, one part of the plan got through," the assassin grunted and stalked towards the doorway. Tony followed, bit worried that his master was too exhausted to start talking with the prisoner right away.

The assassin walked out of the room but was almost immediately stopped by the former overlord. Leonardo glared at the olive green turtle with his right eye, making it clear that this interruption was not appreciated.

"Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to let you know that I managed to transfer all the necessary data thanks to the equipment you provided," Donatello told him.

"Good," the black clad one snorted and pushed past the ex-emperor. The olive green turtle shook his head and dusted something off his lab coat. Then he glanced into the room and witnessed when the blood-red masked Raphael came through a portal.

"Yo, where's the boss?" he asked when spotting Donatello. The former overlord pointed down the hallway, the assassin was disappearing along with Tony into another room.

"I wouldn't bother him, he's a little cranky right now," the lab-coat wearing turtle said with a shrug.

"Great, so he probably knows that his ranch has been blown up," the blood-red masked turtle muttered with a sneer.

"I do not doubt it, but there were other reasons he is cranky." The former overlord shrugged carelessly and began walking down the hallway.

Meanwhile, Tony and the assassin were in a small room with a desk, a cabinet and the walls were filled with pictures. On a chair tied up was the magistrate. So far nothing had been said. The very dark-green turtle had been quite surprised to see the black-clad one arrive in the state he was in. Leonardo faced one wall, not even sparing him a single glance.

Magistrate Raphael glanced at Tony who stood by the door ready. The turtle then eyed his brother once more. The assassin was by the looks of it examining the pictures, though for some reason he didn't think it was likely.

"So what the hell happened to you?" the prisoner finally decided to ask. The silence was becoming both long and very uncomfortable. "And why did you take me prisoner?"

"I have my reasons," Leonardo finally spoke and glared back with his remaining eye. Raphael frowned; he recognized the glint in it. The same one that had shined when the assassin had mercilessly cut Donatello's tongue out. He wasn't smiling or smirking, he was sneering now.

"Bet that eye hurts," the magistrate snorted when the black clad turtle turned to face him. "Hurts like Donny's tongue hurt when you cut it out and destroyed his vocal cords in the process."

"Hurt?" the assassin growled and stepped closer. He stared down at the very dark-green turtle. He began removing the gloves from his hands. Tony stepped forward, accepted them and returned to the doorway.

"Doesn't hurt actually at all," Leonardo sneered as he gently cupped Raphael's right cheek. The magistrate didn't move but glared back at the assassin.

"Just stings a little," the black clad turtle snorted and started to caress his prisoner's cheek with his palm. The magistrate growled and finally moved his head to remove the hand off his face. Leonardo stared at him; the glint was still in his eye. He raised his hand and it balled up in a fist.

Raphael braced himself as the assassin punched him in the head. He didn't say a word or cry in pain, just grunted at every hit. Leonardo continued to beat him with both hands, ignoring the wounds inflicted. The magistrate's face was soon all bloodied and he was barely conscious. The assassin backed away and with a roar kicked his prisoner in the plastron. The chair fell backwards and Raphael's head hit the floor hard.

"Tend his wounds, I want him to live," the assassin snarled at Tony as he stalked out of the room.

* * *

 **2k3 TMNT-world**

"I-is he going to be ok?" Raphael whispered. He was staring at the infirmary bed where his brother Donatello lay unconscious. For safety reasons, he was also strapped to it.

"I don't know. I'm not familiar with this, I guess my brother was trying something new," the cyborg said. The mechanical reptile had arrived several minutes ago with the unconscious and bulky turtle. He glanced at his robotic right hand and then eyed down to his counterpart. Raphael was rubbing his hands nervously together.

"There is nothing we really can do until Donatello returns; it's very limited what I can do. After all I was transformed to be a killing machine, not a scientist." The cyborg dearly wished he really could do something.

"Babu, babu, babu." They both looked towards the doorway when the tiny voice emerged from it. Luna was walking inside with a tired look on her face. In her arms was Michelle and she held out her hands towards her father/uncle.

"She won't stop, I think she wants you," the turtle woman said and approached the cyborg.

"Aw, c'mere 'Ellie." The mechanical turtle turned towards them and held out his hands. Luna transferred the child to him. Michelle almost immediately curled up in his metallic arms with a content smile on her tiny beak. The cyborg held her close to his steel plastron.

"Don't know how she does it, but she loves this," the cyborg said with a grin and began gently wagging his daughter/niece. Soon Michelle's eyes closed and the little girl fell asleep.

Luna smiled and glanced at the nervous dark-green turtle. He had resumed staring at his brother. The woman decided to let him be and walked back to the infirmary entrance. As she exited the room a black portal was forming over the bridge. Splinter was just at that moment coming out of his chamber. Through the gateway came Raph supporting Mikey and after them walked Michelangelo.

"Oh Raphael, another of your brothers has arrived." Luna looked back into the infirmary. Raphael looked away from the bed with eyes open wide. Then he rushed out to see.

Raph was already supporting his brother towards the couch and Splinter was approaching. However, Michelangelo stood still on the bridge, staring lost and confused into air.

"Michelangelo!" Raphael shouted and rushed towards his brother and grabbed him a hug. The other turtle didn't respond, just continued to stare forward.

"It will take him few minutes to drop out of it." Mikey had noticed the event as Raph was lowering him to the couch. "But we might want to remove the chip soon."

"I believe I can help with that." The cyborg was now in the entrance. He had Luna take his sleeping child before approaching the bridge. His counterpart still held Michelangelo in a hug, not caring that his brother didn't respond.

"Where is Leonardo?" Splinter asked as he walked to the couch and put one hand gently on Mikey's shoulder. He smiled warmly at his son as he welcomed him back.

"Leo is at the hospital in the other world, with Mikey's deputy counterpart," Raph explained. "Donatello's counterpart was injured pretty badly. Leo didn't want to leave right away."

"And Donatello?" the old rat inquired.

"On his way in the Battle-Shell, with Leonardo's counterpart," the red masked turtle reported before looking around. "But hey, where is the magistrate?"

"I thought he was with you," the cyborg mentioned as he helped Raphael to guide Michelangelo down from the bridge. They were heading towards the infirmary.

"Well he went to check with Leo and Don, because of the explosives. Maybe he's with Don." Raph got up his shell-cell and dialed the number. He sat down on the couch beside Mikey who was rubbing his temple tiredly. Splinter as well was seated beside him.

"Yo Don, is the magistrate with you," the red-masked ninja asked as he heard his brother respond.

"No, he went to check on Leo and the Ninja Master." Was the answer. Raph frowned when hearing that, he had seen no sign of the magistrate with either of them.

"Where are ya?" he then inquired.

"Just reaching the city limits. I'll be there within an hour with Leonardo," Don said. "See you then."

"Yeah, see ya," Raph hung up and looked at Mikey and Splinter.

"Where the shell is the magistrate?" he asked no one in particular.

 **End chapter 9**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 01/06 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

 **2k3 TMNT-World**

The elevator door slid open and Don walked out of the car. He didn't take time to see where everybody was located as the purple-clad turtle turned. Still inside the elevator was Leonardo, his arms wrapped around himself and staring nervously around. The olive-green one held out his hand towards him.

"Come on, it's safe," he said gently. Leonardo hadn't uttered a word the whole trip back to New York, kept himself huddled in the passenger seat. It had taken Don full five minutes just to get him out of the Battle-Shell.

"LEONARDO!" was suddenly shouted. In a green streak, Raphael arrived and went into elevator car. He immediately grabbed his brother in a tight bear hug.

"R-Raphael?" The scarred turtle was surprised but then a weak smiled crossed his beak. He untangled his arms and wrapped them around his brother. "Raphael."

Don couldn't help but smile at the scene but the car would soon close again, so he quickly entered and gently pushed the brothers out. They hardly noticed it, just hugged each other tighter.

"Donatello." Splinter having noticed the arrival of his purple-masked son came walking, looking to be in a great hurry.

"Master Splinter." Don turned from the reunited siblings to face his sensei.

"You are needed in the infirmary," the old rat told him. "It's regarding your own counterpart."

"On my way, say did the Michelangelos get home safe?" the purple-masked one asked just before he ran off. When his sensei nodded Don immediately took off towards the infirmary.

Splinter then faced the two off-world brothers. They still held each other tight but now Leonardo was crying. Raphael was talking to him, patting him on the carapace. There were tears in his eyes as well.

"It's ok Leonardo, we are safe… we are all safe now," he whispered to his brother.

The old rat smiled and decided not to interfere. Raphael was handling the situation apparently, the best to his abilities. He did though address the two turtles and told them that people were around if they need anything. Then he walked back to the entertainment area and from there entered the kitchen.

Inside Michelangelo sat by the table, one hand under his cheek and the other on the table. He was looking very depressed. Mikey stood beside him and trying to cheer him up, telling him jokes. The dark-green turtle was recently woken up after having been sedated. The mind-control chip was now removed from him.

"Michelangelo, your brother Leonardo has arrived," the old rat informed the sitting turtle. Mikey had to restrain himself from answering to the name, knowing that Splinter wasn't addressing him.

"See, everything is going to be just fine, now we just need your Donny to wake up and you are all back together," Mikey said trying to sound cheerful. His counterpart just barely nodded. He hadn't even looked up when Splinter had told him who was now in the lair.

The blue-greenish turtle sighed and finally sat down besides Michelangelo. He actually knew how he was feeling, having been mind-controlled himself. The shame of being out of control, being there but unable to do anything, listening to what was said and unable to comment. Mikey still shuddered at the memories and he had only been under control for a short while. Michelangelo had been under control for five months.

"How are you feeling my son," Splinter asked Mikey.

"Still a little woozy, but it's wearing off," his son answered with a grin. The old ninja master nodded with a smile. Then he gestured to Michelangelo.

"It is clear that we must help your and your brothers' counterparts to recover from their ordeal. I trust you to handle your own," the elder said placing one hand firmly on Mikey's shoulder.

"Got it Master Splinter." Mikey nodded and grinned now. Splinter smiled and walked back to the entrance of the kitchen. He heard his son resuming in trying to cheer up his counterpart, even asking if he wanted to go and see Leonardo.

As the old ninja master exited the kitchen, he spotted were Luna sat on the couch. The woman was allowing Michelle to sleep there beside her. The child was wrapped snugly in a blanket and rested peacefully. The female turtle was watching the TV with the volume turned low, in order not to disturb the little girl. She was though frowning in worry; she had been told that her lover was in a hospital.

Splinter headed towards the infirmary where he heard chattering. Raph stood near the doorway, further inside was the cyborg and Don was by the bed examining his counterpart. The purple-masked one was frowning heavily and scratching his head.

"So you say he looked utterly mad and was in pain?" he asked while using a stethoscope to listen for Donatello's heartbeat.

"Yes," the cyborg confirmed. "I'm not even sure he knew what he was doing at all."

"Well his heartbeat is not sounding too good," Don muttered and looked around. He cringed, the infirmary was way to under equipped to handle something like this. "I really would need the help of my other counterpart for this."

"That's impossible Don," Raph chimed in. "He's currently in a hospital having his arm being looked at. The assassin bastard chopped of his hand."

"Great." The purple-clad one sighed in frustration and put the stethoscope away. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully and then glanced at the cyborg.

"Whoa, don't look at me, I'm no scientist," the mechanical turtle said almost immediately. Don smiled, though this Raphael could fix things and wasn't a stranger to technology it didn't mean he could handle everything.

"No I just recalled another mechanical friend we have," Don then said and brought up his shell-cell and operated it. "I'm going to call Leatherhead, see if he and Professor Honeycut can help me with this."

"Hey yeah, with the prof's new body he and LH constructed they could help." Raph shrugged and then looked at Splinter who had stood silent beside him.

"You do what must be done Donatello," their sensei said and then turned to his red-masked son.

"I take it then that the only one unaccounted for now is the magistrate," he said.

"Looks like it, Don was the last one to see him and he went inside after Leo and the Ninja Master," Raph nodded. The cyborg approached them now.

"How about we go and try and get contact with them over there, I'm curious on what happened to the magistrate myself," the mechanical turtle suggested.

"Sounds good to me," his red masked counterpart said and they two left the infirmary. Splinter stepped aside as they did and then entered the doorway again.

"Yes, ok you're on your way. Good, thanks Leatherhead, see you then," Don nodded and then turned off his phone. As he placed the cell back to his belt, he glanced at his sensei.

"Leatherhead is on his way. We might have to relocate Donatello though to his place, we'll see when he comes," the purple masked ninja reported.

"Good, then it is up to you to bring your counterpart back to health," Splinter said with a smile. Don took a deep breath and let it out slowly while nodding, that almost went without saying.

The old rat then left the infirmary. He saw that Raphael had relocated his brother to the pool. They both sat at the edge, their feet in the water. Leonardo was staring down looking nervous and confused. His sibling was beside him and had one hand on his shoulder, but they didn't speak to each other.

A portal formed above the bridge. Splinter immediately approached it and was relieved to see Leo come through followed by Deputy Michelangelo. The blue-masked turtle walked down and immediately approached his sensei.

"How is he, Leonardo?" Splinter asked referring to the Ninja Master. Leo eyed the deputy first who just carried his usual grim expression before glancing back at his father.

"They couldn't save his hand," the blue-clad ninja told him. "He's being kept for few days in the hospital."

"Where is Raphael?" Deputy Michelangelo asked and looked around but didn't spot his magistrate brother. He noticed Luna who had stood up from the couch and stared at him worried. He gave her a signal he would be with her in a moment.

"We do not know, he is still unaccounted for," Splinter answered him. Leo's brow rose high and the deputy frowned heavily when he turned back to them. "According to Donatello he went inside the building to go and aid Leonardo and Donatello's counterpart."

"I never saw him. But then again, after Donatello and I had fought the assassin for awhile we accidentally pushed him and us in the process through a window," the basic green turtle said and looked at the gray-vest wearing one.

"He wouldn't just up and disappear…" the deputy began saying but then stopped. His brow sunk even further down as if something just hit him. "Unless."

"What?" Leo asked.

"Yo, we have been trying to contact you guys," Raph interrupted as he came running to the bridge. After him came the cyborg. "You seen the magistrate?"

"I think I know were he is," Mike said dryly and glanced around, then he pulled up his own dimension traveler. He glanced towards Luna who still hadn't moved from the couch but was waiting.

"Don wanted me to tell you, just stay put until this whole mess is over with, you'll be safe here," the deputy told her. The turtle woman hesitated before nodding, though she didn't look too happy about it.

"Don will be ok… he just don't want you to stress yourself too much," he added. Luna nodded for the second time and with a heavy sigh sat back down. The deputy turned back to the others.

"You think he's in trouble?" the red-masked turtle asked once they had Mike's attention again.

"Yes," the orange masked one answered simply and operated the device opening a portal.

"Hey if he's in trouble I'm coming with you," Raph growled and grabbed for his sai. The cyborg as well came closer.

"Me too," he said. The deputy looked at them, sizing the two turtles up before looking at Splinter. The old rat frowned a bit while eyeing his hot-tempered son. Finally he nodded.

"Very well, be careful," he said. Leo stepped forward intending to go as well but Splinter stopped him.

"They will be fine," the old rat said firmly.

The blue-masked turtle grunted and watched his brother follow the deputy and the cyborg through the portal. As it closed, he first now noticed the two turtles sitting on the pool edge. They had both watched everything in silence, but Leonardo immediately tensed up when seeing they had been spotted. Raphael still had one hand on his scarred brother's shoulder.

His attention was though soon diverted to the main lair entrance. Don had already run out of the infirmary and opened it. Into their home came the large mutant crocodile, Leatherhead. The purple-clad turtle was already talking with him about the patient waiting.

"Greetings my friends," the croc addressed Leo and Splinter when he looked towards them.

"It is good to see you Leatherhead." The old rat did a short bow to greet him. Leo did the same. The two turtles on the pool though stared wide-eyed at the large reptile, as did Luna from the couch.

"Hey Leatherhead." Mikey appeared in the kitchen entrance and waved cheerfully the croc. Leatherhead smiled and nodded to the bluish-green turtle. Don and the crocodile soon disappeared into the infirmary. Luna gulped and turned back to the TV.

"W-who was that?" Raphael finally dared asking.

"That was our friend Leatherhead." Leo turned back to face the two sitting turtles by the pool.

"L-Leatherhead is a friend here?" Raphael was very shocked and was even more so when the blue-masked one nodded. Even Leonardo showed sign of surprise on his nervous features.

"You know a different Leatherhead in your world?" Leo asked though he could guess the answer. The turtle wasn't thus surprised that Raph's counterpart nodded.

"Leonardo, I was wanting you to help take care of your counterpart," Splinter addressed his son. The blue-masked turtle turned to face his sensei.

"M-master Splinter… that might not be such a good idea," he whispered and carefully glanced back at the other two turtles. They didn't seem to be paying attention; instead both stared now down into the pool.

"I mean, I both sound and look like the assassin," Leo said looking back at Splinter.

"That may be so, but you are not the assassin." The old ninja master pointed out. "You will do fine, I trust you."

Without further word Splinter turned away and headed for the infirmary to see how things were going there. Leo was left behind at the pool. The turtle uneasily rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at his counterpart and Raphael.

 _This… this is not going to be easy,_ the blue-clad turtle thought. He noticed immediately how fearfully Leonardo eyed him.

* * *

 **Assassin's world**

"Right so what's the scoop, you know where he is?" Raph asked staring at the deputy.

"Yes," Mike grunted as he turned the car. Instead of driving his normal sport car, he had borrowed Don's truck. That was the only way for them to bring the cyborg along as well.

"So where is he?" the mechanical turtle asked.

"Where else? Prisoner of Leo," the deputy said surprising both Raphaels.

"How do you know that?" the red clad turtle asked.

"As an interdimensional magistrate, Raphael has access codes that only he and few others may know about. One of the more recent ones delivered to him opens few files regarding potential assassins in several worlds. It was given to him because of the 'suspicion' that Leonardo is an assassin," the deputy explained and snorted.

"Of course we know he is an assassin but not the rest of this world, they just think he's a bounty hunter and a freelance security guard," he added, they were approaching the city limits now.

"So your Leo would want the magistrate to get those access codes?" the cyborg asked and got a positive nod as an answer.

"Raphael has been very tight lipped about those files, only Don and I, plus very few others know about them. I wouldn't be surprised Leo found out by some other means," Mike continued. Raph glanced back at the mechanical turtle. He seemed to be thinking.

"When did your brother receive those access codes for those files?" he asked. The deputy looked in the rear mirror to look at him.

"About six months ago," he answered.

"Interesting, roughly five months ago the assassin gets a job offer to capture four mutant turtles. The turtles now in Raph's lair, he could do with them as he saw fit," the cyborg became thoughtful. "Something is not adding up. Who paid the assassin to do that?"

"Some brain blob called Krang somethin'," Raph answered. "He's apparently an enemy of Raphael's and his brothers."

"Ah yes, of course. Raphael's memories are little scrambled there, I ignored some parts," the mechanical one nodded.

There was silence now in the truck as it moved after the road. Suddenly the deputy moved the truck in a small space were he could stop the car. Then he turned in the seat to look at the cyborg.

"Ok, I'm a little out of the loop, only heard some fragments of what is going on from Raph's Leo, Don couldn't say much, so what exactly has been happening?" he asked.

Raph glanced back at his mechanical counterpart and then turned back to the deputy. They both began explaining what has been going on. The cyborg mostly through having the memory of one of the captives and Raph from what he had heard, they then told him as well about the rescue at the ranch.

"And this whole mess began roughly five months ago?" Deputy Michelangelo asked with a heavy frown, both Raphaels nodded.

"He's not after those access codes," Mike muttered but suddenly his eyes opened wide in shock as if he realized something. "Oh hell!"

He immediately started the truck again and returned to the road. This time he was driving much, much faster. Raph and the cyborg could only stare in confusion. Any frown and sneer was gone from the deputy, he looked worried.

"Whoa what is going on?" the red masked turtle asked.

"This Krang guy or whatever his name was did not approach Leo to kidnap those turtles, can't be. Leo must have approached him and offered to remove them out of the picture. But why would he bother to keep them alive at all for five months and then pretty much allow you guys to rescue them," the deputy began speaking.

"Allow us?" Raph frowned; he wouldn't exactly call it that.

"Trust me, if Leo didn't want you to rescue them you would never have found them," Mike said sharply.

"Ok this Raphael who escaped was probably not supposed to escape, I bet Leo had other ideas to let you know about this, but since it happened, he just used that. So you and my brothers come barging to the rescue, they pretend to fight but then simply fall back. In the process Leo has my brother snatched," he continued with his explanations.

"I'm not getting it," the red-clad ninja said, the cyborg nodded in agreement.

"When Raph, my Raph leaves this world for some sort of work, he assigns a temporary magistrate that works in his name until he returns. There is no time limit to it. Currently I am the acting magistrate. In other words nobody thinks a second thought that Raph is gone. Leo can't really kidnap him when he is in this world, then there would be a nation wide search for him. Getting him to go on an assignment in another world ensures that nobody will wonder why the magistrate is gone," the deputy explained to them.

"So he can capture him and nobody is wiser to it." The mechanical turtle frowned with the organic part of his face.

"Exactly. Raph never leaves this dimension for work unless it has something to do with Leo. Otherwise, he sends deputies. So Leo has to give some reason, good enough reason for Raph to leave and assign a deputy as a temporary magistrate." Mike shook his head. "And kidnapping four off world turtles and keep them captive is a very good reason."

"But why then bother to go to this Krang guy then?" Raph asked.

"That? Probably just to earn some extra dough. Exploit the situation a little, Leo never drops an opportunity to get cash out of the things he does." The deputy shrugged first but then seemed to consider. "Of course it could also be for extra cover, to throw us off track."

"Ok, I can buy that, so why does he want the magistrate?" the younger turtle brought that question up again.

"If it is what I'm starting to think it is, then you really don't want to know," they heard the deputy mutter, the gray-vest wearing turtle refused to answer further on that subject.

* * *

The magistrate looked down and ground his teeth. He couldn't remember for how long he had been there. His face was all cut up and bruised after the beating he had suffered few hours ago.

 _Damn it, what does he want?_ The turtle thought. His wounds stung and he was still slightly disoriented.

"So he didn't kill you?" a rather mocking voice said. Raphael looked up and frowned, in the doorway stood ex-emperor Donatello.

"Apparently the same goes for you," the magistrate growled. He watched the olive-green turtle walk in, regarding him and smirking smugly.

"He's a little pissed off, losing an eye can do that to you," the former overlord said and pulled his hands out of the pockets of the lab-coat. In one hand he was holding a device; the general shape did remind a bit of a spider, with eight long metallic legs. There were lights on the top of it, and few tiny buttons.

"The hell is this?" Raphael asked.

"A device that compels a person to speak the truth," Donatello explained and promptly placed the spider-like thing on the magistrate's scalp. The brown-shirt wearing turtle cringed when the metal legs locked onto his head, digging into the flesh. He jerked when there was a stinging feeling in the crown; a needle or something had been injected into his head.

"I was told to prepare you for the upcoming interrogation," the ex-emperor explained and continued to fiddle with the device. Raphael growled and tried to struggle, but suddenly got a mild electric shock.

"I would sit still, this machine can be very testy." The lab-coat wearing turtle chuckled and continued to work on the buttons on device. The prisoner sat still but grimacing in pain. He could feel something being injected into him.

"There we go, it will take few minutes to settle." Donatello nodded and stepped back.

Raphael ignored him, tried to block out the pain and the device. The cold metal arms held his head in an iron grip; the pain in his crown was tremendous. His breathing was starting to accelerate a bit. He dropped his head and was immediately given a shock.

"GAH!" He lifted his head and stared at the ex-emperor with wide eyes, gritting his teeth hard.

"Told you not to move." The olive green turtle wagged a finger at him.

"What does he want from me?" the magistrate asked, his voice was in a whisper.

"I'm afraid I'm on a need to know bases, right now I don't really need or want to know," Donatello told him. "I just do what I'm paid to do."

"Why kidnap those turtles?" Raphael asked, he was starting to feel strangely woozy.

"Hm, this is an interesting side effect." The ex-emperor picked up a notepad and a pen and began writing in it.

"Why?" the chilly voice of the assassin greeted their ears. Into the room walked the black clad turtle. His left eye socket still covered and he was not wearing his shirt so his bandaged body was more visible. Donatello immediately retreated further back into the room.

"Because I knew you would come to safe them," he said and stepped in front of Raphael, glaring at him with his right eye.

"You would leave the safety of the city; nobody has to miss you when you go to another world. They expect it could take few days, weeks and even months," the assassin continued sneering.

"It had to be something big like this for you to do it, so that was the only way. I went to that Krang and offered my service to remove the turtles he hated out of the picture. Seems I was right though not to trust that half-witted alien. So for a good reason I used my ranch I bought in the world of our teenage counterparts. They would never refuse to help fellow mutants, especially their own counterparts. They will rehabilitate them, bond with them in friendship as it processes. Once Pretty Boy and his brothers are ready, they will ask them for more help." Leonardo narrowed his eye on the magistrate who was only half listening. His head was feeling heavy, but he didn't dare move it.

"They will ask them to help stop Krang from repairing the Technodrome. Leo and his brothers will not refuse; they will go to Dimension X and stop the repairs. Causing a great distraction." An evil smile began crawling on the assassin's beak and he chuckled almost insanely. "We'll use that distraction."

"To do what?" the magistrate barely had strength to ask.

"To take over the Technodrome." The black clad turtle was now grinning madly. "As I told 'his majesty' over there once. I'm not a very nice debt collector."

"What has that to do with me?" Raphael muttered fighting back the desire to lower his head.

"Nothing." Leonardo dropped the grin and sneered once more. "You are here for another reason. I want the Kmara access codes."

"WHAT?!" Raphael had no idea where the strength came to shout. The assassin narrowed his right eye again; the glint was back in it.

"You heard me, brother dear," he snarled and stepped closer. "And you are going to give them, willingly or not!"

 **End chapter 10**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 18/06 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 **Assassin's world**

"What are those Kmara codes?" ex-Emperor Donatello asked, while working on the machine on the magistrate's head.

The assassin didn't answer; he just stared at his tied brother with folded arms. Sneer was on his beak and the remaining eye still shone that glint. The black clad turtle then glared at the olive green turtle.

"Why is he resisting the device?" he growled. The magistrate was grimacing in pain but had so far not said anything.

"I didn't put it on full power, figured he would crack at this level. Guess I was wrong; I haven't used this device that much. Because when I had to interrogate people, I had a cyborg who could sort out memories at a great speed, thus I could use the memory extractor," the former overlord explained. "I can't in this case, because I would have to use a normal computer to sort out the memories and like you said, it would take too long. A month at least."

"I don't want those codes in a month, I want them now," the assassin growled.

"And you will get them, there full power. Ask him," Donatello shook his head and stepped back. Magistrate Raphael slowly opened his eyes and stared at his brother.

"You're mad," he whispered. "These…these codes are restricted for a good reason."

"What are the Kmara codes," Leonardo snapped. The magistrate closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. The pain was really becoming agonizing.

"The codes Raphael!" his brother shouted.

"N…no… I-I won't… let you…" Raphael whispered and groaned when there was sharp pain in his skull. The assassin approached and slapped him hard. His face flew to the side and instantly the device electrocuted him. Raphael screamed, it was the fifth time the device did this. Donatello set his head right so it wouldn't punish him.

"The codes!" the black clad one snarled.

"56…" He couldn't take it any longer. This torture had gone on for hours and something was compelling him just to tell. He didn't want to speak but something just took over. The ex-emperor was ready with a note and wrote down what he said.

"56…a…b…34…X…" he whispered the first code.

"78…r…s…22…A."

"98…d…r…44…J"

"77…g…e…54…U," he said the last code and grimaced in pain. He hardly felt it when Leonardo patted him on the shoulder.

"There was that so hard?" he asked mockingly. Then he glanced at Donatello who had dutifully written down the codes. "Remove the device of my brother."

The former overlord nodded and handed the assassin the note. Then he started to work on the device. Raphael felt the metal arms loosening and whatever had drilled into his skull was gone. Soon the machine was lifted off his head. The magistrate sighed in relief and hung his head, not having strength any longer to keep it up.

"So, again I ask, what are those codes?" Donatello asked while putting the device back into the pocket of his coat. Leonardo was reading the note, now with a pleased smile on his beak.

"They give access to coordinates," the assassin murmured nodding. "Coordinates to world usually not accessible with my traveler."

"Coordinates… that are restricted for a reason!" Raphael snarled and glared up. "There is a reason why these worlds are forbidden Leo. You are mad to even considering going there."

"Sounds serious." The ex-emperor shrugged carelessly.

"You see restriction, I see opportunity for money," Leonardo smirked as he put the note in the pocket of his shorts.

"Money?!" somehow the magistrate managed to snap his head up. "You will find nightmares not money. Have you read the reports? The Ru'uians had valid reasons and showed proof that these worlds were not something anybody would want to visit. I have seen people that were stark raving mad because they went there. This is no joking matter Leo; there is something on these worlds, these dimensions. Something not even you will be able to handle!"

"Nightmares?" Donatello looked at the assassin who just shrugged carelessly.

"You know what they are called? Nightmare worlds, that's what they are called. Because even though you are bad, we will find something even worse than you over there. Something that makes you look decent," Raphael snapped.

The door opened and the Demolisher peeked inside looking to be in a hurry. After scanning the room for a brief second, he stared at the assassin.

"Yo, we are getting visitors. They'll be arriving in five minutes at the speed they are going," he reported.

"Good, just in time." Leonardo smirked and looked at the former overlord. "Give him the drug."

Donatello nodded and out of his pocket came a vial full of green liquid. He pulled out a syringe and a needle as well. After filling it, the ex-emperor walked to the magistrate. The tied turtle still had his head hung, paying very little attention to his surroundings. He cringed when the needle was injected and glared at the lab-coat clad one.

"What the… what is this?" he growled.

"Oh just a little something that makes sure you won't, how shall I put this, remember," ex-Emperor Donatello explained with a devious smirk.

"Wha?" Magistrate Raphael lifted his head fully now and looked at the assassin confused.

"You honestly didn't think I'll let you remember our little encounter here?" the black-clad turtle snorted.

The magistrate didn't answer as he suddenly began flailing slowly before becoming limp on the chair. His eyes closed as the turtle lost consciousness.

"Throw him out," Leonardo said and walked out of the room. The blood-red masked turtle snorted as he entered. He untied the prisoner and slung him over his shoulder.

"So Mr. Genius, finished that gadget of yours?" Demolisher Raphael asked glancing at the ex-emperor. Donatello sneered at the nickname.

"That's Donatello to you," he grunted. "And I'll finish it, not that it is any of your concern."

"Hey, I'm just asking. Sorry for being social," the blood-red clad turtle shrugged carelessly and walked out carrying his counterpart.

* * *

"Ok we are almost there," Mike grunted as the truck made a turn. Now in the distance they could see a large mansion, painted black.

"Wait, we can't just barge in can we?" the cyborg asked with a frown. "I mean if your brother is always prepared and since he has my brother as well, who knows how I work."

"We'll see," the deputy muttered and gritted his teeth.

Finally they seemed to be approaching a steel fence. Mike seemed prepared to ram the gate down but his eye ridges rose in surprise. The gate was opening and somebody was walking through it, carrying something or someone. The cyborg leaned a bit forward to see and zoomed in with his mechanical eye.

"I'll be damned, it's the Demolisher, he's carrying your brother," Raphael grunted.

"Great, just great," Raph snorted and was fingering his sai. Mike began slowing down the truck.

The Demolisher threw down the unconscious turtle and seemed to be staring towards them. Finally he turned and headed back towards the mansion. The gate began to close.

Raph growled, unbuckled himself and opened the door. He was ready to leap out but then his counterpart outside spun, holding a handgun. Mike almost hammered his foot on the brakes. There was gunfire and then the Demolisher began running towards the mansion.

"The bastard shot the magistrate in the leg," the cyborg snarled.

Raph didn't waste a moment; he jumped out of the truck and sped after his blood-red masked counterpart. The gate closed but the ninja scaled it quickly and was on the other side in a second. He just barely managed to dodge another bullet fired from the Demolisher.

"You are not escaping so easily this time," Raph growled as he ran closer. The other Raphael holstered the gun and drew up a combat knife and his sai.

"All right then ninja boy," the Demolisher snorted and came to a halt. Then turned and the two turtles clashed into battle.

Meanwhile by the gate, Mike had arrived and jumped out to assist his brother. The deputy cringed at his brother's wounds, especially the one on his leg caused by the bullet. He was about to drag the magistrate towards the truck when the cyborg appeared. The large mechanical turtle picked the injured turtle and carried him to the vehicle.

"You go and get your brother medical assistance, Raph and I will handle things here," the cyborg told the deputy. Mike just nodded, knowing there was no time to argue. He jumped into the truck and sped off.

Raphael turned towards the gate and witnessed the heated battle between the Demolisher and Raph. Neither seemed quite willing to give up. They also looked rather evenly matched.

"Hm." The cyborg walked closer and looked at the gate blocking his path. Then a mischievous grin came on the organic part of his face.

"Well, I do hope that the gate was expensive," he said and tore it down with his mechanical arms and threw it away. Then he began stalking towards the battle. His right hand sunk into the arm and out came his machine laser gun barrel.

"Oh crap," the Demolisher snorted when seeing the cyborg approaching

Raph grinned and pressed on. He was not going to allow this guy to escape. Now with his large mechanical counterpart arriving, victory was on its way. The younger turtle spun his weapons and continued to slice and stab. The other turtle was though starting to eye the mansion occasionally.

The red-masked turtle was about to jump and kick when suddenly there was a stinging feeling in his leg. The ninja roared in pain and collapsed to the ground, grabbing for his thigh, he was surprised to find a wound there. Bullet wound, he had been shot. Looking at the Demolisher who was just as surprised, Raph realized it hadn't been him.

 _Oh crud forgot whose mansion this is._ The red clad one glanced towards the mansion. Sure enough, in a window was the assassin holding a rifle. He still had bandages over his body, but his right eye was still there and he only needed one to aim.

The Demolisher immediately used this opportunity, his heavy booted right foot struck down on Raph's head knocking him unconscious. Then the blood-red masked turtle ran off towards the mansion. The cyborg had added speed but was forced to halt. Now his younger counterpart needed medical attention and fast.

There was a clinging sound as a bullet ricocheted of his metal plastron. Raphael looked up and saw the assassin. Growling the mechanical turtle aimed his arm and fired two laser shots. The black clad reptile quickly ducked inside. The Demolisher was as well long gone inside.

 _Curse the both of you,_ the cyborg snorted and gathered Raph up in his arms.

"Don't worry kid, you'll get the best medical treatment for that leg," he said and got his remote from the shoulder pad. Then the turtles disappeared in a flashing white light.

* * *

"Cut it a little closer why don't you?" the Demolisher snorted as he met up with the assassin in the hallway. The one eyed turtle was shouldering his rifle.

"Shut up!" Leonardo snapped and continued to walk. Growling Raphael followed him. They went back into the study room were ex-Emperor Donatello was working on the spider like machine.

The black clad turtle snorted as he put the rifle on the desk. For a moment he just stood there in silence, staring forward. Then he glared over to the former emperor who paid neither him nor the Demolisher any attention.

"That project of yours, how is it going?" the assassin suddenly snapped.

"What, the clones?" Donatello asked not even looking up.

"What else?" the assassin snapped. "Answer me!"

"Well I encountered a slight problem," the former overlord said and put the spider device back in his pocket. He eyed his snarling employer.

"What problem?" he growled.

"I don't have enough materials to make them fully grown," Donatello said simply. The assassin sneered but waited, giving the ex-overlord a chance to explain further.

"Also I couldn't recreate everything regarding my cloning techniques. It would be too risky to clone them full sized. I would have to make them as children to avoid complications," he said.

"What do you mean?" Leonardo's angry expression softened a bit, he seemed a little bit more interested suddenly.

"It would be more practical and safer to make them in younger size, with the memories I have from both Michelangelos, I can give them the necessary knowledge so they won't be overgrown babies," the ex-emperor explained.

"But I wasn't exactly interested in making baby Michelangelos…" Donatello halted when the Assassin looked down and cringed as if he suddenly had a headache. For a moment the turtle just rubbed his temple before looking up again, his anger seemed to have vanished and showed no indication that he was going to tell what just happened.

"How exactly would you do it?" Leonardo asked and gestured to Donatello to go on, his right eye narrowing slightly. Ex-emperor raised an eye-ridge but shrugged.

"I would let Clone A be roughly equal to a three years old, Clone B I can have roughly five years old," the olive green turtle told him.

"Hm, interesting," he mulled and began pacing around. "That… that does offer some possibilities actually. How long will this take?"

"Few months," Donatello admitted then sported an uncertain frown. "You realize we are talking children here, you will have little kids running around."

"We have to wait anyway. I don't know how long the teenagers will take to rehabilitate their counterparts," the assassin shrugged and ignored what the former overlord had said afterwards.

"Well you're the boss as they say." Donatello shook his head. "I probably should then genetically tweak them a little bit, to ensure that certain elements are weeded out. They will still be clones, but still not exact duplicates thus lowering the risk of any future problems that often follow cloning."

"Do it, what would you need?" the assassin asked.

"Well, few genetic samples from each of us three might help. The more genes I have to work with in the tweaking the better," the former overlord said.

"Raphael?" Leonardo turned to the Demolisher who was leaning in the doorway, not having really been listening at all.

"Yeah what?" he snorted. The assassin shook his head seeing that the turtle hadn't been paying attention.

"Want to earn few extra bucks?" the black-clad turtle asked.

"Sure, what do you want?" Raphael shrugged.

"Sample from you," Donatello said and walked towards the doorway. "Let's go to the lab, so I can extract it."

"Wait whoa, I'm not having any needles," the blood-red masked turtle growled but then a dollar bill was shoved into his face.

"What the heck?" the Demolisher stared at the one hundred dollar bill in his hands and then at the assassin.

"That enough?" the black clad turtle asked, seeing the disbelieving look Leonardo shook his head and produced more bills out of his pouch and handed them to Raphael.

"Uh." the Demolisher looked at the money in his hands and then at Donatello. "Um, how much do you need?"

* * *

 **2k3 TMNT-world**

"Hm currently his condition is stable," Leatherhead said as he peered through the microscope. Then the large reptile glanced back at the infirmary bed. On it Donatello still lay and was his olive green counterpart standing beside it.

"But we can't really tell what's wrong." Don sighed in frustration and was stroking his chin. "Especially since the mutagen in his blood is obviously not Utrom."

"That as caught my attention as well." The croc agreed and stepped towards the bed. "There is some form of alien substance in his system. But it's not the mutagen I am familiar with."

"Wait, Splinter mentioned to me that their origin is slightly different from ours," Don muttered and eyed the doorway. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

The olive green turtle walked out of the infirmary. He spotted were Raphael and Leonardo still sat by the pool. Leo was there as well trying to strike up a conversation. By the looks of it, he had been at it for some time. Don approached them and when the three turtle noticed him they all looked up.

"H-how is he?" Raphael asked. Leonardo had hung his head again once seeing who had come, staring now uninterested at the water.

"We haven't been able to tell yet," Don told the dark green turtle. "I need to know, how did you get exposed to the mutagen that mutated you and who created it?"

"Shredder and Krang created it," Raphael answered and shrugged. "We got exposed to it because Shredded tried to use it to kill our master Hamato Yoshi, but instead it changed him into Splinter and us into mutant turtles."

"Wait, your Splinter is also Hamato Yoshi?" Leo asked stunned. Both turtles sitting by the pool nodded.

"Interesting, so your mutagen actually acts as a metamorphosis formula and not just only as a growth formula like it was in our case," Don said and received blank looks from the three in front of him.

"Uh never mind." The olive green turtle figured he didn't have to explain this. "I might need to get blood samples from you two and Michelangelo, just so we have something to compare."

"All right." Raphael nodded and then whispered something to Leonardo. The scarred turtle shrugged carelessly. Don frowned and then beckoned Leo come with him.

"How long as he been like this?" he whispered indicating to his brother's counterpart.

"A while now," Leo said and shook his head. "I have been trying to talk with him, but he just seems to have lost interest in anything. Raphael is also not doing so well, I had to calm him down few minutes earlier."

"Well, when Raph returns he'll probably take care of his counterpart," Don said and was about to go back to the infirmary. The elevator doors opened and out came both Raph and the cyborg.

"Raph? What happened to you?" the purple-masked turtle asked. His brother had bandages on his thigh and used his counterpart for support.

"The bloody cheater," Raph growled, Leo had arrived at his side and now the red-masked turtle leaned on him. "The assassin shot me in the leg to immobilize me."

"What about the magistrate?" the blue-clad ninja asked as he supported his brother towards the entertainment area. Luna was there holding baby Michelle, Splinter had as well stood up. The old rat was approaching the arriving turtles.

"The Demolisher shot him in the leg too, the deputy took him to a hospital," Raph answered. Now both Splinter and Leo were helping him towards the couch.

"Ok so the Magistrate is kind of safe now," Don said having followed the others to the entertainment area. "He and the Ninja Master are now both in a hospital and the deputy is probably with them as well."

"I would like to go after the assassin, for what he has done," Leo said as he lowered Raph down to the couch. "But we have work to do."

"Leonardo is right, we must help your counterparts that are here," Splinter said. "I'm afraid we must put the concern of the assassin aside for now."

Don glanced at Luna who was very uneasy, she had put Michelle down and the little girl ran immediately to the cyborg. The mechanical turtle was now holding the giggling child. The purple-masked turtle was about to walk to the turtle woman when a black portal opened over the bridge. Deputy Michelangelo stepped through and the gateway closed.

"Luna, if you want to, you can come over. Don wants to see you," he said and held out one hand. Luna nodded furiously, said goodbye to everybody and ran the best she could to the gray vest-wearing turtle.

"They are only keeping Raph in for a day, we'll check on you in a few," Mike told the others. Splinter nodded and soon the deputy and Luna had left the lair through a newly formed portal.

"If you guys need any help, I can stay," the cyborg said as he walked into the entertainment area, holding his daughter/niece. "I'm not expecting April for few days."

"That would be most appreciated Raphael," Splinter said to the mechanical turtle.

Don had to admit that he did want the cyborg around. If he recalled correctly, his own counterpart in the infirmary had been very durable and strong. It was perhaps a very good idea to have someone around who could easily restrain him. The purple clad one walked into the kitchen were Mikey was still with Michelangelo.

"Um, Michelangelo. I'm working on trying to cure your brother, but I need a blood sample from you to be able to compare," the olive-green turtle said.

"See, you are still useful. Heck you're going to help cure your Donny," Mikey said cheerfully. Don couldn't say he was very surprised at what his brother was doing. He remembered when the blue-greenish turtle had in fact been rather depressed after getting rid of the mind control chip.

"Come on, let's go and take a sample, then I'll do what I can to help your brother," the olive-green turtle said and gestured out. Michelangelo sighed and shrugged, he then rose up from his seat. Don walked out and headed towards the infirmary.

"Leonardo and Raphael, you will be needed in here for a moment," he addressed the two turtles by the pool.

Raphael nodded and stood up. He had to gently prod his scarred brother to do the same, but after a minute Leonardo finally did. They walked towards the infirmary, Don was already inside and so were the two Michelangelos.

"Ok, we are not quite sure yet what is wrong but to be able to determine it, we are hoping using blood samples from you will do the trick," Don explained to the three counterparts of his brothers. Leatherhead stood back and waited while the olive green ninja collected the samples.

Don at first found it curious that none of the turtles reacted very badly to him. Considering that they had seen his emperor counterpart first. Then the turtle figured since he dressed more like they had, and wore a mask, his looks did differ a little bit.

Leonardo had as well apparently figured that Leo was not the assassin. At least he had stopped eyeing him fearfully. Now he was just indifferent, almost like he was just there. Raphael still looked nervous and worried. Don wasn't sure how much help he would be to his brothers in his condition. He also seemed to really hate himself now for not trying anything before fleeing the ranch. Blaming himself for his brothers tortures. Then there was Michelangelo, depressed, feeling like a traitor and useless due to his five months lack of self-control.

Once all three had donated samples Don said they could stay or leave. Then he and Leatherhead began working. Michelangelo left along with Mikey, who still wasn't going to give up and kept trying to talk with him. Leonardo departed as well, giving his unconscious brother one regretful glance. Raphael stayed, nervously rubbing his hands and staring at Donatello.

"How long do you think this will take?" he whispered. Don looked over his shoulder at him.

"I'm sorry Raphael… I can't tell at this moment," he said and smiled weakly. "But we will do what we can."

"Okay," the dark green turtle whispered and sat down in a chair. Leonardo was ignoring him anyway. So he figured he could maybe be useful here, especially if they needed information.

Now that Don had something to compare with he could see the problem. There was definitely something in his counterpart's blood that was not in the others. Some chemical that was reacting violently to the strange mutagenic substance that had mutated Donatello and his brothers.

The purple masked turtle looked up from his work and towards the infirmary bed. They were still keeping him sedated. After the cyborg's account it was for the best. Don glanced at Leatherhead who was working on the computer that the turtle had installed in the infirmary.

"What do you think?" he asked worriedly.

"It will take time, but I think we can do it," the croc said with a nod. "Though we might want to relocate him to my home. With Professor Honeycutt's help, we might be better equipped to deal with this secondary mutation."

"I agree. I'll ask the cyborg to help us relocate him," Don said and headed to the doorway. He took one glance at Raphael who still rubbed his hands nervously and stared at his unconscious brother.

"He will be ok," Don said in a reassuring tone before leaving. _At least I hope so._

 **End Chapter 11**

* * *

 **A/N:** With chapter 11, Part 1 of Shattered Shells has ended. the next few chapters will be interlude chapters, dealing with the rehabilitation and healing of the 80's Toon turtles. Then Part 2 of Shattered Shells begins.

Yes that does mean for the next few chapters, we are not going to hear a word from the assassin and his lackeys, ex-Emperor Donatello and Demolisher Raphael. We'll meet them later.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 26/06 2006

Here it is, the first interlude chapter. Michelangelo/Mikey centric.

Well you know the drill probably by now, if I use the full name it's the 80's turtles if it's the nicknames it's the 2k3 turtles.

 **Chapter 12**

Michelangelo sat by the kitchen table with one hand under his cheek, the elbow on the top. The dark-green turtle stared dejectedly forward; he didn't feel like doing anything. Even now that he finally had full control over his body; it just didn't seem to matter to the ninja any longer.

"If you are anything like me, then you have to like pizza," the cheerful voice of his blue-greenish counterpart addressed him. The current orange-masked turtle was by the kitchen counter and making pizza dough.

"I… well… I suppose," Michelangelo muttered in answer. Actually, he pretty much worshipped pizza, but now he just didn't really care.

He put his hand down and stretched forward so he half lay on the table. Of his brothers, the dark-green turtle felt he had escaped too well from the torture of the past five months. They had been tortured and beaten, while he was just an unwilling servant of a mad scientist. Occasionally he had gotten control, but only to lose it all over again when the ex-emperor had activated the chip that had been in his head.

"So uh, what toppings do you like?" Mike asked and turned slightly to look at his depressed counterpart.

"Doesn't matter," the dark green ninja whispered.

"Okay, I'll just put the works," the other turtle said and turned back to the baking.

"Michelangelo?" another voice addressed him. Looking up he saw his brother Raphael walk timidly in.

"They are going to move Donatello," the other dark green ninja said as he sat down besides his brother and put one arm around his shoulders. "D-do you want to come?"

Michelangelo shook his head and continued to stare at the tabletop. His brother sighed and used his free hand to pat the other turtle on the arm.

"It's not far from here," Raphael said but that didn't seem to spark any interest. Mikey looked around from the counter.

"Why don't you go with him, see where they are taking your Donny. Leatherhead's place is great, lots of space and you can meet Professor Honeycutt," the blue-greenish turtle suggested.

However, there was no response from Michelangelo. His brother hugged him before standing up and let him go. For a moment, he stood beside the table with one hand on Michelangelo's shoulder.

"I won't be long, just seeing that they plan to do…" Raphael hesitated and glanced outside. "Leonardo is… well by the pool if you want to see him."

Mikey watched the other dark-green turtle leave; he took one look at his counterpart. This was not going to be easy the ninja realized but was unwilling to give up. He was going to show them that even though he goofed around, he was up to serious tasks like this one.

The currently orange-masked turtle thought back to when he had been in the same situation. What had eventually helped him was the realization that compared to others he had gotten out easy. However, that was not the case with his counterpart.

He finished putting the pizza in the oven and then went to the table and sat down. The other turtle was staring at the table, making slow circles with one finger. Mikey rubbed his chin while thinking something to say.

"So, you collect comics?" he asked the first topic that popped up into his head.

"Yeah… guess," Michelangelo muttered.

"Cool, me too." Mikey's smile dropped when seeing that his counterpart still didn't look up. The blue-greenish turtle scratched his head then he got an idea and stood up.

"Wait here," he instructed and ran out of the kitchen. Michelangelo didn't even notice it, just kept on staring at the tabletop. His mind was far away. 

* * *

_"Where are you taking me?" Michelangelo demanded as the assassin dragged him out of the basement. They then headed for stairs further inside the hall._

 _"Oh you will see," the black clad turtle said with a smirk._

 _The dark green turtle had been the first to be unchained and dragged out of the room, under the heavy protest of two of his brothers and himself._

 _The assassin took him upstairs and down another hallway. They went across a large red room and through a door further inside. Michelangelo tried once more to get free from the iron grip but no avail._

 _"You think you can use this one?" Leonardo addressed somebody in the room that suspiciously looked like a lab. An olive-green turtle wearing a lab coat turned around. His eyes narrowed on the dark- green turtle._

 _"Hm, one of those counterparts you went to fetch?" he asked, his voice was sinister and almost cold._

 _"Yes," the assassin grinned and pushed Michelangelo a bit forward. "This is Michelangelo."_

 _"Michelangelo," the olive-green turtle snorted. "I always seem to end up with that particular turtle."_

 _"Now don't be rude Michelangelo, say hello to ex-Emperor Donatello," the black clad turtle said and pushed again at the dark-green ninja. The lab-coat wearing one sneered at the ex in the title._

 _"Eh, huh hi," Michelangelo said and waved._

 _"What about the others?" Donatello asked looking at black clad turtle._

 _"I lay claims on Leonardo as usual." the assassin smirked; Michelangelo did not like the sound of that. "And our explosive happy friend asked if he could have two ninjas, so he will have Raphael and Donatello."_

 _"Great, great," the former overlord muttered and rolled his eyes. "All right bring him over."_

 _Michelangelo's arm was seized again and the turtle was dragged towards a bench. Again he began struggling and the assassin had to restrain him. Donatello approached holding a syringe._

 _"What the heck?" the dark green turtle tried to free himself but couldn't escape. The needle was injected and whatever the syringe contained went inside his body. Michelangelo continued to try to escape but felt his body slowly go limp, shortly later everything went black._

* * *

Michelangelo was brought out of his thoughts when a small wet tongue licked his beak. The turtle looked up and stared at small furry orange face of a cat. The feline meowed and sniffed the turtle's beak before licking it again.

"Meet Klunk." Mikey stood by the table having just brought his pet cat down from his room.

"Uh… hi." The dark green turtle sat up properly and stared at the cat. Then he lifted one hand and gently stroke Klunk on the back. The orange tabby purred and lifted his back a bit. Then jumped from the table into Michelangelo's lab and curled up there. The turtle continued to pet cat, still staring at it.

"See he likes you," the blue greenish turtle said and moved over to the oven to check on the pizza.

For a moment, his memories were forgotten. All his concentration went on the cat. Klunk purred happily enjoying this attention very much. A smile actually began creeping over Michelangelo's beak. He had always wanted a pet, but so far the results had always been disastrous and his brothers made him return them.

"Hey you can smile?" Mikey had turned away from the oven since the pizza wasn't ready just yet; he had spotted the slight change on his counterpart.

"What? Oh." Michelangelo looked up for a moment but then returned his attention to Klunk.

"That's Klunk for you, if I can't bring people to smile then he can," the orange-clad ninja joked and sat down by the table. The joke actually got through and the dark-green turtle actually chuckled.

"It's just so hard now… I mean… I could see and hear them… but I couldn't do anything… then he came and… I…" Michelangelo gulped and the smile disappeared. "He just had to give one order and my body did it. I couldn't stop it…"

"Yeah, it's not cool at all." Mikey agreed. "Heck when he was controlling me, he told me to hit my brother and then had me attack the others. I couldn't do anything. At one point I even was speaking strangely, I had no control over what I said."

"When did you meet him?" the dark green ninja asked frowning a bit.

"I think I already told you about that, but what the heck a good story is worth telling twice." His counterpart grinned and told him again when he and his brothers met Emperor Donatello and how they met the assassin and the whole mess around it.

"Wow," was the only thing Michelangelo could think of saying once Mikey had finished.

"Pretty intense huh?" the blue-greenish turtle said and rose up again to check on the food. Soon the pizza was on the table.

"Just going to pop another in the oven," Mikey said and quickly flattened the rest of the raw dough and made it ready for baking. Once it was on the oven, he went to the entrance and announced that the dinner was ready.

"Splinter, Don and my counterparts will eat at Leatherhead's," Raph could be heard from the outside. "Can you just bring few slices out for me and Ellie?"

"Sure thing bro." The blue-greenish turtle turned back into the kitchen. He got a plate, rescued few slices off the table and took them to his brother. When Mikey returned, Leo accompanied him.

"He's not coming out of that pool, better just bring the food to him," the blue-masked turtle muttered and got few slices of the pizza and put it on a plate.

"Your Leo is swimming in the pool, well if you can call that swimming," the orange-clad turtle explained to his counterpart.

"Huh?" Michelangelo frowned; he was still petting Klunk but hadn't touched the pizza.

"The river water pool that's in the middle of the lair." Mikey pointed out of the kitchen with his thumb while grabbing a pizza slice. "Your Leonardo has relocated himself to it and is just kind of floating there, occasionally steers away if he gets too close to the bank."

"Leonardo…" the dark green turtle whispered and the small smile disappeared. He slowly stopped petting Klunk. The feline as if sensing the distress, sat up in his lap and looked up at the turtle meowing.

"He was the strong one… he was always the leader… we could be so lost without him." Michelangelo sniffled, the tears threatened to come forth. "But this black-clad creepzoid… he destroyed him… he…"

"Hey, hey it's ok." Mikey scooted his seat closer and put one hand on his counterpart's shoulder. "Leo is helping him now; you will get your bro back."

"Leonardo and I… we were the only one who walked freely around. Me because I had the chip and Leonardo… because he had absolutely no willpower left," the dark-green one said and was now crying.

"Hey, just let it all out. Worked for me," the orange-masked ninja said gently.

"I was though sometimes kept in that cell we met in… not sure why," Michelangelo said trying to dry his tears but they just kept coming. "Other times I was just… doing whatever I was told to do."

"I saw this… Demolisher dude or whatever his name was… he was constantly fighting… either Donatello or he was using Raphael as a prey to hunt… they did something to Donatello… injected something in him, he became mad," he continued. Mikey was now patting him gently on the carapace. Klunk was curled up again the turtle's lap but kept one feline eye on him.

Michelangelo couldn't speak any longer. He leaned forward, buried his face in his arms and continued to cry. Klunk had to flee his lap in order not to be squashed. The feline jumped to the table and watched as Mikey tried to calm his counterpart down.

"Hey Ellie, no wait," Raph's voice called. "Come back kid!"

Into the kitchen wobbled little Michelle, curious on what that noise in the room was all about. The child approached the table and as she wasn't very tall simply walked under it.

Michelangelo was suddenly aware that tiny hands were on his knees, the turtle rose up and his tearful eyes opened wide. Right in front of him, peeking from under the table was Michelle. Her hands were on his knees, but then she lifted one hand and pointed at the dark-green turtle.

"Babu," she said almost sounding serious.

"Hey Ellie, what are you doing here?" Mikey looked under the table. The child tried to climb into Michelangelo's lap. Half unconsciously, the dark-green turtle helped the girl up and sat her on his leg.

"Where…where did you come from?" he asked and sniffled, a smile actually came on his beak.

"That's the cyborg's nice… or was it daughter, anyway her name is Michelle," Mikey told him. "We call her Ellie."

"Hi Ellie," Michelangelo greeted the child who smiled when hearing her nickname.

"Bab…" the child stopped and looked almost like she was trying to think. Then suddenly she said as she patted the older turtle on the plastron. "Ok?"

"Whoa, new word," the blue greenish turtle said grinning. "They told me she could only say babu so far."

"You think she was asking if I was ok?" Michelangelo asked glancing at his counterpart who shrugged.

"Ok, ok, ok, ok," Michelle chanted causing both older turtles to smile wide.

"Hey she isn't… oh." Leo appeared in the doorway. "Raph told me she ran into the kitchen."

"Yeah, she's helping here now," Mikey said grinning. His blue-clad brother nodded and looked out.

"It's alright Raph, need any help?" he asked while stepping out of the doorway.

"Nah I'm fine," the red-clad turtle could be heard say.

Michelangelo's attention was now on the child. Once more, the memories of the past five months were forgotten. He tickled the girl under the chin; the girl let out a mad laughter and squirmed in his arms.

"You are a cute little dudette aren't you," the dark-green turtle said and gently caressed her on the cheek.

"Cute!" Michelle almost immediately said and held out her arms waving them.

"Hey she'll be having a full time conversation before we know it." Mikey chuckled.

Klunk meowed and jump down from the table. The cat jumped into his owners lap and curled up there. The blue-greenish turtle began petting him but continued to watch his counterpart and Michelle.

"Hey what do you say we ditch the kitchen for now," Mikey said and rose up. In the process, he grabbed his cat. Michelangelo just nodded and as he held Michelle, the turtle stood up.

Before they left, Mikey rescued the pizza from the oven but left it on the counter for now. The three turtles plus cat left the kitchen. Raph was on the couch in the entertainment area with his injured leg on the footrest.

"Hey Raph, how's the leg?" the orange masked turtle asked and sat down in the couch beside his brother.

"Fine" the red masked turtle grunted and glanced at Mikey. On the other side of the blue greenish one, Michelangelo was sitting down still holding Michelle. The child was busy inspecting the edge of his plastron.

Mikey took a glance back to the middle of the lair. Leo crouched beside the pool and tried talking with his counterpart. Leonardo on the other hand was in the water, pretty much just floating and looked uninterested in anything. Occasionally made some leg movements to steer himself away from the bank.

"He's been like this ever since my counterpart left with the others," Raph told his brother who nodded.

"Yeah, Leo told me," Mikey whispered.

"How is yours?" the red-masked one wondered eyeing the dark-green turtle beside his sibling.

"Seems to be doing ok currently." The orange masked one turned to look at his counterpart. Michelangelo was talking with Michelle and the child was smiling wide and waving occasionally her tiny arms.

"How long are you supposed to stay off that leg?" Mikey inquired glancing at the bandages on Raph's thigh.

"A day or two, just to make sure," his brother told him and shrugged.

"Boy it was weird being in a hospital, actually letting a doctor take care of your wound," Raph said grinning.

"You were in a hospital?" Mikey asked surprised. The red masked ninja nodded.

"Yeah, the cyborg took me to Turtleland and to a hospital there. The downside was the doctor kept calling me son. Ok he was a lot older than me, but…" Raph just barely managed to stop himself from swearing. "I keep forgettin' the kid."

"Heh, nice save though," the orange masked turtle snickered and nudged his brother with an elbow.

"Meh, no need for her next words to be cussin'," Raph grunted.

"Speaking of words, she just said 'ok' and 'cute' earlier," Mikey whispered to him.

"She did?" Raph raised an eye-ridge in surprise. "Well I'll be… um… yeah. I think it's time for me to go to bed. It's been a long day."

"Need help?" the orange-clad turtle offered and stood up.

"Yeah thanks," the red-masked turtle said and was helped rise from the couch by Mikey.

"I'm just going to help Raph to his room, just stay here with Ellie and Klunk," the blue-greenish ninja addressed his counterpart. Klunk had relocated to the couch as his owner left it.

Michelangelo just nodded and continued to watch the child in his arms. Michelle was now looking fascinated at her tiny fingers. She then looked up at the older turtle and held up one finger.

"Yes that's your finger," he said. The girl giggled and poked Michelangelo in the beak.

"Arr, I'm going to bite it." The dark-green ninja teased and pretended he was going to bite the finger. Ellie shrieked and laughed at the same time and quickly pulled her little arm out of harms way.

His worries and sorrows were forgotten for the moment. Lost in the admiration of the innocent life he held in his arms. He just felt happy again, a feeling that hadn't been in him for so long. He was again poked in the beak.

"You like to poke don't you," Michelangelo said and lowered his head closer to the child, the whole time her finger pressed at his beak.

Michelangelo suddenly grabbed the child and held her as he quickly lay down in the couch. Klunk had to flee and relocated himself to the recliner. Meanwhile the dark-green turtle lay on his carapace and held the child high up. She giggled and waved her arms and kicked with her feet.

"You're on an airplane, vroom," the older turtle said chuckling and moved Michelle around as if she was flying.

"Whoosh," he said and the child took a slight dive before she lifted back up again quickly.

This game continued for a while longer, but finally Michelangelo sat the laughing turtle child on his plastron. There she jumped a bit up and down waving her arms. Michelangelo didn't stop her, just smiled wide and with only slightly sad eyes watched her. He hadn't had this much fun for over five months. He had almost forgotten how it was to laugh.

"Sure glad I met you dudette," he whispered to the child. Then he lifted his right hand and held the palm flat up close to Michelle. "Can you give a high three?"

The child stared at the hand and then put her tiny left palm up against it. Michelangelo smiled. That was close enough for a three, even though she didn't remove her hand again like tradition instructed.

He enclosed his larger hand over hers; Michelle's tiny hand disappeared completely. That seemed to surprise her; she tilted her head a little staring at where her arm suddenly was shorter.

"Whoops, your hand is gone," Michelangelo teased but then opened his palm, revealing her hand. "Hey, there it is."

Michelle lifted her hand staring at it in wonder. Then she looked at the dark-green ninja and laughed. The older turtle laughed as well. He wasn't sure how long this would last. However, at the moment he didn't care, he was having fun finally.

"I hope you never have to suffer the same thing me and my brothers have," he whispered and his smile became sadder. "You are way too cool."

"Cool!" Michelle said holding out her arms.

"Heh yeah," Michelangelo chuckled. "Can you say 'Cowabunga'?"

"Cow!" the girl said omitting completely the rest of the word.

"Eh, close enough," the older turtle shrugged. Now Michelle yawned wide.

"Yeah, I'm a little tired too," the dark-green one agreed and nodded.

Michelle scooted herself closer and lay down on top of the older turtle's chest. She wrapped her tiny arms around his neck the best she could and lay her head down on him, her scalp touching his chin. Michelangelo was a bit surprised at this but didn't move. He put one arm around her protectively to prevent her from falling.

Shortly later Mikey returned from helping Raph to his room. He witnessed a very interesting scene in the entertainment area. Michelangelo was now sleeping soundly on the couch. Curled up in his arms was Michelle in dreamland as well. From the recliner Klunk had relocated once more to the couch and was fast asleep on a small space beside the dark green turtle.

"Well, I'll be," the orange-masked turtle muttered and grinned. Then went to fetch a blanket and carefully placed it over the sleeping three. Klunk made no protests, probably welcoming the soft material as well. Mikey picked up the remote and turned off the TVs.

He went over to the pool were Leo still crouched near the bank and was watching his counterpart. His expression indicated that the blue-clad turtle was at total loss on what to do.

"Hey, how is it going?" Mikey asked as he sat down beside his brother.

"Not too good, he refuses to respond," Leo told him and glanced at the nearby plate. "At least he ate."

"That's a good sign right?" Mikey asked.

"I hope so; he's just going in circles there. He's aimless, it's like he has just given up," the blue-clad turtle said and watched Leonardo swim in the water.

"My counterpart seems to be cheering up, thanks to Ellie and Klunk," his younger brother reported. Leo put one hand on his shoulder.

"That's good to hear. Good work Mikey, you might just have saved at least one of them," the older turtle said with a nod.

"With a little help," the blue-greenish turtle grinned. "Literally little."

Leo nodded and chuckled. Silence commenced and the two turtles watched the one in the water. Mikey indeed did notice that Leonardo looked as he simply had given up on everything. His eyes just stared half closed forward and his movements were slow.

"It's going to take a lot to help him. Of his brothers he was probably the one worst mentally scarred," Leo said and shook his head.

"You can do it Leo," Mikey said reassuringly and patted his brother on the shoulder. Then he stood up and stretched. "I better go and put the rest of the pizza in the fridge."

"You do that," the blue clad turtle said and watched for a moment his brother leave.

His attention went then back to Leonardo. The unmasked dark green turtle had suddenly stopped circling. Now he just floated in the middle of the pool, hands and legs under the water, only part of his head and carapace were visible.

 _I will help you, even if it will take years. I will help you,_ Leo thought. He gritted his teeth at the thought of his black-clad counterpart and what the assassin had done to the turtle in the pool.

 **End chapter 12**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 27/06 2006

This chapter was supposed to only focus on 80's-Raphael and 2k3-Raphael, but the damn cyborg pushed himself a little bit into the spotlight as well. So this chapter focuses technically on three Raphaels instead of two.

Oh and remember, when I say dark green turtle, I am usually referring to any of the 80's-turtles. I usually call 2k3-Raph 'very dark green'.

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

Raphael was quite reluctant to leave Leatherhead's place. Even though he knew his brother was being well taken care of. The three, Don, Leatherhead and Professor Honeycutt would do everything in their power to help Donatello. He had already given them all the information he could. It was little he could do now, except wait and hope.

He followed his large cyborg counterpart and Master Splinter back home to the lair. The dark green turtle trailed a little behind, deep in his own thoughts. Small part of him dreaded to see his other two brothers, like in the state they were in. Leonardo looking so lost and Michelangelo depressed.

The turtle sighed and glanced at this hand, the one he had both broken a tea cup and cut it with a sai. The bandage was long gone but it was still visible were the injury had been. He closed the fist and dropped the hand to his side. Then glanced up at the metal carapace of the cyborg, it sure looked real but at closer inspection it was actually painted metal.

 _Must be nice being made of metal, so tough and strong,_ the turtle thought. He didn't move when the cyborg turned his head slightly so the organic part of his face glanced back at him.

"It was not your fault you know," the mechanical turtle told him. He slowed down his pace so the smaller reptile was walking beside him.

"Huh?" Raphael stared at him confused.

"I still have your memory in my computer brain, so I kind of know what happened to you and what you saw happening to your brothers," the cyborg explained to him. The dark-green turtle nodded, knowing that already.

"You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened. Things were simply out of your control. You actually did the only sensible thing, ran for help. These guys were too powerful for you to take on alone," the larger reptile continued.

"Well… I still wish I… done something," Raphael muttered but his counterpart just shook his head.

"You did something Raphael, you got help. That's more than many can do," the cyborg told him. The smaller reptile didn't answer just shrugged and looked down.

 _Maybe he's right,_ the dark-green ninja thought.

The rest of the way was walked in silence. They reached the lair and the two turtles walked after Splinter inside. The first thing Raphael noticed was how quiet everything was. Leo was by the pool and Leonardo was in it, seemingly swimming. The Michelangelos were nowhere in sight and neither was Raph.

"Leonardo," Splinter addressed his blue-masked son. The basic-green turtle rose up from his crouched position and faced them.

"Mikey is up in his room and Raph has gone to bed early. I think Michelangelo is sleeping the couch with Michelle," he reported. His sensei nodded and headed towards the entertainment area. The cyborg followed him. But Raphael approached the pool.

"Is he swimming?" he asked while staring at his brother in the water.

"Well…" Leo cringed and rubbed the back of his neck. He regarded his circling counterpart. "Yes and no, he's been like that since you left."

"Ok." Raphael frowned, that was weird. He went to the pool edge and crouched down. Leonardo paid him no mind.

"Leonardo," he addressed his swimming brother.

"We should try and get him out. You guys might want to get some rest," Leo said, standing beside the dark-green turtle. "Michelangelo is already sleeping like I said so we can make room for you with him there; you probably don't want to sleep alone."

"That would be appreciated," Raphael nodded. He stared at his scarred brother. "Leonardo, please come."

Leonardo just continued to circle the pool. His brother sighed and narrowed his eyes. Finally, he slid himself down into the water and swam towards the other turtle. He stopped the circling by grabbing Leonardo's upper arm and began swimming towards the bank.

Leonardo made no protest and allowed himself to be towed. He was gently guided to the edge, once there Raphael climbed out and began pulling his brother out. Leo crouched down and helped lifting his counterpart up.

The blue masked turtle had already towels ready and together with Raphael they dried Leonardo. The scarred reptile just sat expressionless during the process. When finished he was pulled to his feet and his brother guided him towards the entertainment area.

There the cyborg had already retrieved his daughter/niece, being careful not to wake her or Michelangelo up. He carefully stepped aside so not to be in the way. Splinter finally offered him to let the child sleep in his chamber. The mechanical turtle accepted the offer and disappeared with his daughter/niece into the old rat's room. The elder meanwhile went into the kitchen to make some tea.

Leonardo was seated in a recliner, while Leo roused Michelangelo so they could unfold the couch. The formerly sleeping turtle rose up yawning and rubbing his eyes. He inquired about Michelle and was told where she was. The dark-green turtles just nodded and got seated on the floor while the couch was being prepared.

As a bed the couch was actually quite roomy, especially for three roughly five feet turtles. Once it had been prepared Michelangelo almost immediately climbed aboard and fell instantly asleep. Leonardo had to be pulled up from the recliner but seemed to get the hint once dragged to the couch. He on his own lay down beside his brother. Raphael himself finally sat in the bed yawning wide, he had to admit being tired.

Leo seeing he wasn't really needed now went into the kitchen were Splinter was drinking tea sitting at the table. The old rat was thoughtful but nodded to his son while the turtle got himself a tea cup and sat down.

"I'm worried Master Splinter. My counterpart isn't responding at all," the blue-clad turtle said in a low tone.

"Healing takes time. I am sure he will come around," the old rat said with a smile. "I'll be sleeping in Donatello's room, since he is going to be staying at Leatherhead's while trying to cure his counterpart. I have given our mechanical friend the use of my room for his daughter since he can't easily climb the stairs."

"Well, if you want a lower bed, why don't you take my room Master Splinter? I can take Donatello's room," Leo offered, remembering that like Mikey, Don slept on a high bed. Splinter nodded his thanks and finished drinking from his cup. Then the old rat rose up and bade his son good night.

Leo lingered for a while wondering how to help his counterpart. It would hopefully help if his other brothers made some process. That might aid Leonardo's healing as well, seeing his siblings all right.

The blue-masked turtle drained the last drop from his cup and stood up. He cleaned up the tea set before leaving the kitchen. As he passed the entertainment area he glanced at the couch. A smile crept over his beak; there might actually be hope after all.

Curled up very close to Leonardo's carapace was Raphael. His left hand actually clutching at his brothers shell edge were the bridge met it. The scarred turtle on the other hand had his arm protectively over Michelangelo. The once cheerful dark-green ninja was held very close to his brother, as if Leonardo wanted to make sure no harm came to him.

Leo left for the stairs to climb towards the upper level. As he headed for Donatello's room, he was now more determined than ever to bring his brothers' counterparts their brother back.

* * *

Raphael woke up first, for a moment he wasn't completely sure where he was. But the turtle remembered once rising up and noticing his surroundings. He glanced down and smiled when seeing how Leonardo held Michelangelo protectively in his sleep.

He climbed out of the couch bed and stretched. He couldn't hear any signs of life, so he figured everybody were asleep. Safe for one, in front of the door to Splinter's chamber stood the cyborg, motionless but his organic eye clearly showed he was not sleeping.

Curious the dark green-turtle approached the mechanical one; his large counterpart grinned with the organic part of his mouth but didn't say a word.

"You awake?" Raphael said the first thing that really popped up in his mind.

"I hardly sleep at all. I can enter a specific rest cycle but it only lasts for two or three hours," the mechanical turtle said as quietly as his voice allowed.

"Whoa." The smaller reptile was impressed. The other Raphael nodded in confirmation.

"I am roughly 80% machine, but still those 20% organic parts need some rest and I also must consume nutrients for it as well. But otherwise I almost run entirely on electricity," he told his small counterpart.

"Wow… so how is that life?" Raphael wondered, the mechanical one sighed heavily.

"Hard, my weight is nearly a ton, I am cold to the touch, I look more frightening than a normal mutant turtle and my voice is almost artificial. This is not a life I would wish on anybody. But I survive," he said and shook his head. "Given the choice I would want my old mutant body back like it was though."

"Shouldn't you stay off that leg?" the cyborg then suddenly addressed somebody. Raphael turned and saw were Raph was making his way down the steps.

"My leg is fine, just as long as I don't engage in any action," the red masked turtle grunted. "Can't have people carry me around all day."

"Just be careful," the mechanical turtle warned. Raph just muttered something but approached his two counterparts.

"Master Splinter asleep?" he asked once the very dark-green turtle stood in front of them.

"Think so, he allowed me to use his bed for Michelle. I think your father is sleeping in one of your brothers rooms," the cyborg told him. His red masked counterpart nodded and then eyed his other double.

"So how are ya holdin' up," he said punching Raphael lightly in the shoulder and grinned.

"Fine I guess," the dark green turtle muttered and hung his head. "I… I don't know… its so hard seeing my brothers like this."

"Well your Mikey seemed to be cheering up yesterday, he was playing with Michelle or so I heard," the red-masked turtle told him.

"He was?" Raphael looked up surprised, but then a smile crept over his beak. Raph nodded and patted his counterpart on the shoulder.

"Yeah you see, your brothers are going to be just fine," the red-masked ninja said.

 _Yeah… I hope so,_ the dark green turtle thought and his smile became sadder. He was lightly punched in the shoulder again.

"So, ya told me ya had a girlfriend," the red-masked turtle said with a mischievous smirk.

"Oh really, do tell," the cyborg said folding his mechanical arms and grinning wide.

"What was her name again, Mona Lisa?" Raph inquired.

"Um yeah," Raphael nodded and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Like I told you she's kind of a lizard mutant. She was mutated after being kidnapped by some sleazebag and forced to work for him. We kind of met in a costume ball; we were both pretending to dress up what we actually were. We hit off shortly after that," he told them and smiled almost dreamily now.

"But she likes to travel, unlike us she is used to more freedom since she was once human. But we make up the most of the time we are together," the turtle continued.

"You are one lucky turtle," Raph said still smirking. "So what about your brothers, they don't have any?"

"Well… Michelangelo was in some form of a relationship with an alien girl named Kala, but I think in the end they decided to be just friends. Donatello has never really expressed any interest in relationships with anybody… though we have had our suspicions about him liking someone. Leonardo did fall for a girl but the relationship really didn't work because she was a professional thief and didn't want to give up that career," Raphael explained.

"Ah I'm sure they'll meet someone one day," the cyborg said. "Life tends to jump you when you least expect it."

"Wish I could be that optimistic," Raph grunted and folded his arms and shook his head.

"Ah come on, just hop over to Turtleland, the ladies will be flooding over you," his mechanical counterpart told him with a mischievous grin. Their discussion was interrupted by a wail coming from Splinter's room. The cyborg shook his head smiling.

"Duty calls," he said and quickly disappeared into the room to quiet Michelle down.

"Come on, let's get something to chow on," Raph said and gestured to Raphael to follow him to the kitchen.

Raphael did so and noticed that his counterpart was walking with a slight limp. It wasn't surprising since he was only wounded yesterday. They passed the entertainment area and the dark-green turtle glanced back at the couch. Leonardo hadn't moved a bit, still protecting their brother.

They ended in the kitchen and Raph produced the leftover pizza from yesterday night from the fridge. The red-masked turtle divided a portion on two plates before looking at his counterpart.

"Ya like them cold, or do you want to nuke it?" he asked.

"Um, heat it," Raphael said as he sat down by the table. Raph nodded and put the first plate in the microwave. While the pizza was heating, the red-masked turtle went to the fridge again and produced from it two cans. He threw one to his counterpart who caught it.

"Uh what is this, beer?" He was surprised to see that kind of drink in the fridge.

"Non-alcoholic," his counterpart said as he opened his can and took a large gulp from it. "That plus soda I drink here, but I drink the real stuff when I'm with Casey."

"Casey… as in Casey Jones?" Raphael asked surprised. Raph nodded and began telling the turtle a bit about his human friend.

"Woah, that definitely doesn't sound like the Casey Jones I've met," the dark-green turtle said and in turn told his counterpart about his version of Casey. He was much more violent and crazier. Raphael and his brothers only considered him an uneasy ally rather than friend.

The microwave chimed and Raph rescued the pizza from it and put the second plate in. Raphael got his food and began slowly munching on it. Soon his counterpart joined him by the table when his meal was ready as well.

"Maybe later when we both feel up to it, I'll take you to meet Casey," the red-masked turtle offered.

"Sure why not," Raphael nodded. Raph narrowed his eyes on him.

"You're not still blaming yer self for this are ya?" he asked. His counterpart didn't answer and was just nervously fiddling with his can of drink.

"Look by all accounts you had no choice," the red masked turtle told him. "Tell me, ya think you would be able to take on both this Demolisher bastard and the assassin?"

"Wha? No they are way too skillful for me alone," Raphael said and gulped.

"Exactly, you were alone against them. You had no choice and ya made the right one. Your flight led you to us and we got yer brothers out of that hell hole." Raph pointed out and then drank from his can.

"That's true I guess," the dark-green ninja muttered.

"In fact, it is thanks to you that your brothers are now away and safe. Donny is working on curing your Donatello and your other two brothers are sleepin' safe and sound in the couch. If anything ya should be proud of yourself," the red-masked one claimed.

"I never really looked at it… that way." Raphael frowned as he thought it over what his counterpart had said.

"'Bout time you do, your brothers are going to need you now, more than ever. Especially your Leo," Raph told him with a nod. "Hey and if you need the workout, you can always use our trainin' equipment. It's there to be used."

"Thanks," the dark-green turtle muttered and finished the rest of his pizza.

About that time Leo came walking into the kitchen. His eye ridge rose when seeing his red-clad brother sitting by the table.

"Uh how did you get here?" he asked surprised.

"Couldn't sleep any longer and came down," Raph grunted and finished his drink.

"Aren't you supposed to stay off that leg?" the blue-clad one asked concerned but his brother waved him off.

"It's fine, just as long as I'm not tryin' any kicks and stuff like that," he muttered. Leo wanted to disagree with that, but for now he decided to let it slide. He went to prepare himself some breakfast.

"Hey, you guys got anything that you can mash, potatoes or apples?" the cyborg asked as he walked into the kitchen holding babbling Michelle.

"We got apples," Leo said and opened the fridge and got out of them few apples.

"Potatoes are baby food?" Raph asked with a raised eye ridge. He accepted the child who was more than eager to be transferred to him.

"Well yes and no," the cyborg said. "Michelle likes mashed potatoes, so I give it to her when she wants. But since there are apples, she'll get them."

Leo sat down by the table with a cereal bowl and a sandwich. The mechanical turtle on the other hand began peeling the apples using the mini-bone saw in his right hand knuckles. He had naturally washed it thoroughly first in the sink. The three turtles by the table sat and stared surprised at the work. How he could use the buzzing saw to perfectly peel every single fruit.

Then the cyborg got a bowl and using his metal fingers mashed every apple in it until it was little but a mush. After washing the hands, he grabbed the bowl and fetched a spoon. Then turned to face the others, Michelle was watching the bowl eagerly. She knew exactly what it contained having watched her father/uncle doing his work.

"Right, anybody wants the honor of feeding her?" he asked and the organic half of his mouth was in a devious grin. Leo frowned; he was already getting aware of the mischievous nature of the cyborg. So he was quick to decline, Raphael did so as well.

"I can handle it," Raph said not knowing really what he was asking for. The cyborg put the bowl on the table in front of his counterpart and the child; he then gave the red-masked turtle the spoon.

"Have fun," the mechanical one said and stepped back.

At first everything seemed to go well. Michelle accepted every spoonful from Raph. Then she became very interested in the bowl. The older turtle ignored it though and continued to feed her. Suddenly the child dove both her hands into the bowl and straight into the mush. She scooped a generous portion of it quickly into her mouth. Unfortunately some of it landed on the table and both Michelle and Raph.

The red-masked turtle was frozen for a moment but then glared at the cyborg. The mechanical turtle was desperately holding back laughter. Leo also had to stifle a chuckle and Raphael smiled wide.

Michelle wasn't finished, she dove her hands back into the bowl. Raph growled and grabbed her hands before the turtle girl could scoop up more mush. The mechanical one turned to get a washcloth and handed it to the now irritated red-clad ninja. He did his best to clean himself and the kid, then pushed the bowl further away and out of Ellie's reach.

"Now no more of that," Raph snorted and continued to try to feed the kid. Michelle giggled and accepted further feeding without too much trouble.

"All right I think you can play with the bowl now," the very dark-green turtle muttered once the container was mostly empty. He gently put the child down on the floor and gave her the bowl. Michelle immediately began using her tiny hands to get the leftover mush.

Leo, Raphael and the cyborg then applauded the red-masked turtle all of them grinning wide. Raph grunted and shook his head. He was though a bit surprised at himself how well he had actually handled this. Then again, the kid didn't seem too deterred by slightly rough handling. It was probably because of the cyborg's cold metallic arms.

"So are you feeling better?" Leo turned his attention to Raphael. The dark-green ninja nodded slightly and smiled.

"I… well… Raph gave me some things to think about," he whispered and nodded. "It's going to be hard though."

"It always is, but you and your brothers are strong. You will all recover," the blue-clad turtle assured him.

"You should have seen your brother Michelangelo. He really got into playing with little Michelle. I truly believe he's already on his road to recovery. They then fell asleep together in the couch," Leo told the turtle. Raphael smiled once more when hearing that.

Splinter entered the kitchen; the old rat nodded and greeted everybody. Then his gaze fell on the floor. Michelle was ying on the back, her head deep in the bowl she held firmly with her hands. Her chubby legs were up and the toes lightly touched the edge of the container bottom. The cyborg was as well staring at this spectacular scene.

"I don't think you're going to get any more out of this bowl Ellie," he said and carefully began crouching down. The turtle child pushed the bowl off her face that was covered now in apple mush, her hands and plastron were also sticky from apple juice. She welcomed being picked up by the mechanical one.

"Time to get you cleaned up," the cyborg said and carried Michelle out of the kitchen. Just as they left, the child burped and smiled contently.

"Man that kid is somethin'," Raph grinned. Leo nodded in agreement.

"We have been privileged to be allowed to see young Michelle grow," Splinter said with a smile while preparing himself some tea.

"By the way, I have already talked about it with Donatello. But yesterday our mechanical friend approached me with a proposition," the old rat then mentioned and glanced at his sons by the table. "He wants us to be the legal custodians of young Michelle if anything were to happen to both him and her mother."

"Really?" Leo frowned when hearing that tidbit. His sensei nodded in confirmation.

"At first I was skeptical of the idea. However, Raphael told me that he had no family and neither does April. As far as he is concerned we are just as much part of his life and wants Michelle to know us as her family," Splinter said and filled his cup of tea and approached the table.

"With that in mind I have agreed to it," the old rat said and gave his two sons a wry smile. "You two and your brothers are now officially her uncles."

"And you sensei?" Raph asked with an unsure face. The old ninja master sipped on his tea, savoring the taste before answering.

"I have been privileged with the title of grandfather," he said and put his cup on the table. "I trust there are no objections to this arrangement."

"Oh no, not at all," Leo quickly said. "We are honored to be her uncles. Thrilled."

"Mikey is going to walk on clouds when he hears this," Raph said and chuckled. Then he glanced at his counterpart who was still fingering his can of non-alcoholic beer.

"Somethin' wrong?" he asked.

"What? No nothing," Raphael smiled nervously. "Just thinking."

"Anything you would like to share?" Splinter asked gently.

"Well… I kind of was wondering what my Master Splinter is doing. He must be worried sick," the dark-green turtles said and sighed sadly.

"Hey… any pizza left?" a voice came from the doorway. Rubbing his eyes tiredly was Michelangelo, somehow managed to free himself from his brother's grip without waking him.

"Because this dude is just having a major attack of the munchies," the newly awake reptile said with a cheeky smile.

 **End chapter 13**

* * *

 **A/N:** That titbit of having the NT-turtles and Splinter as the ones to take care of Michelle if anything was to happen to the cyborg and Turtotopia-April is actually inside jab and homage to an old plot point.

You see in "When the assassin strikes" the cyborg was originally supposed to die as well as T-April. And the idea was that 2k3-Leo would become Michelle's adoptive father. But that all went down the drain when I decided I just couldn't kill them after all. It just seemed to unnecessary.

So that's all what is really left of that plot point, the turtles are now officially Michelle's uncles and Splinter has taken the role as grandfather


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 02/07 2006

If you have read the Epilogue chapter to 'A Broken Hero', I think you'll recognize Don's dream quite easily

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

Don was starting to develop a headache. This had to be one of the most challenging things he had taken up on himself. He was very relieved to have help in this one; alone the purple-clad turtle wouldn't have been able to do this.

The olive-green ninja rubbed his neck tiredly as he rose up from the chair. He stretched high and glanced at were Leatherhead was working on the computer. The crocodile had a heavy frown on his face as he worked.

"So… how goes it?" Don asked and walked to his large friend.

"Hm, this is definitely the chemical that is causing this," the croc answered with a nod. The purple-masked turtle nodded as he watched the data on the screen.

They had finally, with Professor Honeycutt's help managed to isolate the chemical that had been injected into Donatello. Unfortunately, it was causing the dark green unconscious turtle to mutate further and they had no idea how to stop it.

"It is fortuitous though that his secondary mutation process is very slow," the voice of the professor addressed them. The alien cyborg was working on another computer located nearby. Or more to the point, he was connected to it using his robotic body.

"That's probably and hopefully going to save him," Don muttered and walked to the bed where his counterpart was kept sleeping. The dark green ninja was very muscular now and his beak had prolonged a bit. "He's already grown an inch."

"What was his regular height?" Honeycutt asked turning his metal head to face the turtle.

"According to Raphael, he and his brothers have always been roughly 5' 0'' tall," the purple-clad one said and while he checked his counterparts body over. "But when I measured Donatello this morning, he was 5' 1'' tall."

"Hm, even though we might be able to stop the mutation, we don't know if he will grow back into regular size and shape," Leatherhead warned.

"That's what worries me," Don said and left the bed. He went to his own workstation where he had been analyzing samples with the microscope. "By my calculations, on top of this mutation caused by the chemical, the mutagen in his blood is unstable as well. As is the mutagen in his brothers."

"But that would mean…" the professor cut himself short.

"That they could mutate further without any warning or provocation," Leatherhead finished in a worried tone.

"Exactly, we have to find a way to stabilize the mutagen in them," Don said as he sat down. "But to do that we would need a better sample of the mutagen that transformed them. We can't get it through these blood samples or from the other turtles. We need a bigger source."

"Maybe we should concentrate on curing your counterpart first," Leatherhead suggested. The turtle nodded and sunk himself back over the samples.

They had been at this for just about two days with very little rest in-between. Don was determined to find a cure, as were Leatherhead and the professor. However, the chemical was stumping them.

"I will give my emperor counterpart that, he's a brilliant chemist," the purple clad ninja grunted. He glared at the tiny sample they had managed to extract from Donatello's blood.

"Indeed, this chemical compound would not have been possible for an amateur. It is clear he has a great experience in chemistry," Honeycutt agreed.

"So how goes it on this front?" a voice addressed them all, they looked up and saw Magistrate Raphael come walking in using a cane. With the mask less turtle was Deputy Michelangelo and Master Splinter.

"Wish I could say better," Don grunted and stood up. He then introduced the two turtles to Leatherhead and the professor.

"How is the Ninja Master?" he asked.

"Fine, considering he only has one hand." the magistrate sighed as he got seated in a chair the deputy brought out for him. "He has already started on locating the turtle's home dimension."

"Does he really feel up to it already?" Don asked worriedly.

"He feels so and there is really no way to tell him not to do it. He would anyway, that's just our Donatello. You really have to chain him to the bed and even then it's not enough," Magistrate Raphael said with smile. "Then again I'm suspecting that he had already started even before we went and got them out of there."

"But you, how are you feeling?" the olive green turtle then remembered that the sitting turtle had also been in a hospital. Just his clothes covered most of the bandages, safe for the ones on his head.

"Considering something was done to me that I have no idea what, fine," Raphael said and shrugged. "You see I have no memory from since we went to rescue our counterparts. I just suddenly woke up in the hospital after bullet wound treatment. I don't even recall being shot."

"I told him what we saw and knew, your Leo already gave him his account about the rescue," the deputy told them.

"Otherwise I'm on my way to rest and relaxation. My superiors ordered me on a vacation after hearing what happened, figured I might just as well spend it here," the magistrate told and looked at Splinter.

"I have already spoken with Mr. Jones; he has agreed to take the magistrate to the farmhouse. As well as we are sending the others there too," the old rat explained to Donatello. "I have opted to stay; I wish to see the process here. The cyborg will return as well later, he had to return to his own world first to inform his wife of the situation."

"Well, we are currently a bit stumped on the process. The chemical that is causing this is very sophisticated, it seems to be a mix of steroids and other chemicals that are violently reacting to the mutagen in Donatello's blood," Don explained to them.

"Maybe it will wear off eventually?" the magistrate suggested.

"We have considered that possibility," Leatherhead chimed in and glanced at the bed where Donatello lay.

"It is a likely possibility, especially because of high amount of steroids in the chemical," the professor added and finally disconnected himself from the computer and walked closer to the group.

"But, in the off chance it doesn't happen we still want to try and work on a cure or at least something that will neutralize the chemical. He's mutating as we speak and the mutagen in his blood is already unstable," Don said.

"I could have Donny come over and help," the magistrate offered. "Though he has never been that much in the chemistry business, he's mostly in the engineering."

"No, it would probably be good if he was looking for the turtles world," the olive green ninja said. _Considering he's probably the only one who can find it._

Magistrate Raphael nodded and started to rise up with his brother's help. The two off world turtles said goodbye and headed back to the lair, so they wouldn't miss the others. Only Splinter remained. Don and Honeycutt resumed their work, but Leatherhead offered the old rat some tea and went to make it.

* * *

 _"I…I feel horrible."_

 _"…must go to lab…"_

 _"Leonardo… if…if I'm allergic… to the drug… then it means… I am missing… some enzymes or something else… to break the chemicals in…in the drug down…my body can't… get rid of it."_

 _"…we must analyze my blood…"_

 _"…not really…really an allergic reaction…"_

 _"…_ _lack….lack enzymes…"_

 _"…might not… might not wake up…"_

 _"So…so cold."_

 _"Donatello."_

 _"Donatello!"_

"Donatello my son, wake up." Splinter gently shook his olive-green son who had fallen asleep on the worktable.

"Uh… what?" Don rose up and while rubbing his eyes looked at Splinter. "What… I was sleeping?"

"Yes my son and you were mumbling something in your slumber as well," the old rat told him.

Don frowned as he tried to recall his dream. He had definitely dreamt something. He had heard a voice, unfamiliar to him. Yet the turtle felt like he should have known who it was, then at the end just before waking up the ninja had heard the voice of Leo's counterpart, Leonardo.

"How is…" Don turned in the chair to glance at the bed. However, as soon as he laid eyes on his counterpart it hit him like a bolt of lightning.

"We got to wake him up!" he shouted and jumped off the chair. Leatherhead and Honeycutt looked up from their work surprised at the outburst.

"What do you mean Donatello?" the crock asked and rose up from his chair.

"Don't ask me how I know, but we have to give him the antidote to the sedatives," the purple-masked turtle said as he quickly got a syringe and the antidote from the med-kit.

"But Donatello, by my fellow cyborg's account, your counterpart is not exactly himself," Honeycutt warned him.

"Donatello!" Splinter frowned and looked sternly at his son. Don was already checking if the straps were in place and secure. Then the turtle injected his counterpart with the antidote for the sedatives.

"I'm sorry… it's just that… I um…" the purple masked turtle scratched his head. "He's sort of allergic to certain sedatives… and I don't want to keep him under this one until I know if it's safe. We just sedated him no question asked, but I don't know how it would really affect him."

"How do you know that?" Leatherhead asked raising and eye ridge. Three set of eyes stared at the purple-clad turtle, expecting an explanation.

 _Man I hate getting ideas from dreams, it's so awkward to explain._ The olive-green ninja cringed a little.

"I kind of… um dreamt it… I heard somebody talk. He talked about lacking enzymes to break down a drug, most likely a sedative. Then I heard Leonardo's voice, my counterpart's Leonardo. I figured that the previous voice had to be my counterpart," he told them, half expecting them to burst into laughter. "Though calling it allergic reaction would be incorrect since it's not related to the immune system."

"Donatello… would you say that you connected with him?" Splinter walked closer to the bed, first looking at the sleeping turtle and then at is son.

"Connected?" Don's brow rose. His father nodded and stroking his muzzle thoughtfully.

"You said you heard his voice and then Leonardo's. Maybe in his slumber he tried to reach out for someone and you were the closest. Maybe he felt familiarity in you since you and him are on the basic level the same," the old ninja master suggested.

"When it comes to you my friends, I have always expected the unexpected. I wouldn't be surprised that this is what happened." Leatherhead nodded with a slight smile.

"Yes I must admit I have heard of species that can kind of connect with each other through their sleep cycles, that was one of the things that inspired my to create my menta-wave helmet that well…" Honeycutt looked at his robotic body. "That made me who I am today, though this is not my original Sal body."

Don looked down at his counterpart, that was a weird concept but not farfetched. Considering what he had experienced through his life, this almost sounded normal. Since it would take few minutes for the antidote to take effects, the turtle made another check on the straps. While doing so he frowned, something was not quite right.

"Something wrong my son?" Splinter noticed the expression on the ninja. Don didn't answer right away; instead he got a measuring tape. With his sensei's help he measured his counterpart.

"I'll be… he's as tall as I am now, 5' 2''," the purple clad one said as he looked at the number on the tape.

"Which means he's two inches taller than his brothers now, now that will be an interesting reunion," the professor said. Don and Leatherhead nodded in agreement.

"I think I'll take another blood sample, just to be sure," Don said and got the necessary equipment. "He should be waking up at any moment now."

Splinter didn't know really why but he felt rather compelled to sit by the bed. He got a chair and as he was sitting down the old rat kept one eye on Donatello. Meanwhile Don was already working on the new blood sample. After a short while the olive-green turtle looked up with a frown.

"Huh, that's funny," he said and eyed his counterpart carefully.

"What is it?" Leatherhead asked curiously.

"Leatherhead, you are working on the samples that contain the chemical. Try inserting the antidote to the sedatives in one of them," Don told his crocodilian friend.

The croc stared for a moment at the turtle confused but then did what he was told, got the antidote and use a bit of it on one of the blood samples. Then he checked the sample under a microscope. His brow rose high and he looked at Professor Honeycutt.

"The chemical is dissolving," the croc said, they both looked at Don who rubbed his chin.

"It's just so… simple… damn that's just down right deviously clever. Of course the cure would be just so simple. That would mean nobody would really think of it," the purple clad turtle palmed his face with one hand.

"I must say." Honeycutt looked into Leatherhead's microscope and saw just what the others saw.

"It is as if Donatello knew." Don looked back at his counterpart. "Or at least had the idea."

"It is possible he overheard from his captors about the cure, it just never could make a connection in the state he was in," the croc suggested.

"But what about his transformation?" Splinter asked. His son froze for a second but then looked into the microscope. After a while he glanced up again.

"There doesn't seem to be a transformation going on, but his mutagen is still unstable. We'll have to work on that next," he said.

"Should we release him from his straps before he wakes up?" Splinter inquired, prompting Don to look back at the bed. The turtle frowned, now would have been a really good time to have the bigger cyborg in the room, but they did have Leatherhead.

He nodded to his sensei who immediately began removing the straps that held the turtle on the bed. Don inwardly hoped he wouldn't regret this. Leatherhead stood up and walked to the bed, almost as if he had read the turtle's thought.

"So… if this worked… then we have been working on a cure for about three days and… well it was there all the time." Don scratched his head and watched his counterpart as he was slowly beginning to stir.

"Two days, 18 hours and 32 minutes to be precise," Honeycutt chimed in. Don smiled and shook his head.

"Yes thanks Professor," he said with a chuckle.

Suddenly Donatello's eyes fluttered open and everybody got on their guard. For a moment the dark green turtle just stared up before closing his eyes. A grimace of pain came over his face and suddenly he groaned.

"Ooow… what happened?" he moaned and tried to rise up. Leatherhead helped him sit. For a moment the turtle took no notice who he actually was. He just started to rub his right temple for a second and then opened his eyes.

"Okay," he muttered when he saw Splinter, Honeycutt, Don and finally Leatherhead. "W-where am I?"

"You are safe, that's where you are," the croc told him calmly.

"Safe? Wait the assassin! My brothers!" Donatello tried to jump out of the bed but was too weak. Splinter had risen from his chair and put one hand on the turtle's shoulder.

"Your brothers are safe, you will see them soon enough," the old rat told him.

"W-who are you people?" the dark green ninja asked eyeing around. At that moment Don finally stepped closer and took a deep breath.

"You are still in another world Donatello; I am your counterpart from another reality. That's Splinter over there, the counterpart of your Splinter. The crocodile is Leatherhead and the cyborg is Professor Honeycutt," the purple clad turtle introduced everybody. Donatello glanced at him unsure.

"C-counterpart? You wouldn't be the assassin's brother are you?" he asked frowning now.

"No, I am not," Don told him. "But the assassin is the counterpart of my Leonardo as well."

"Some chemical was injected into you that caused you to go a bit unstable. We have been working on curing you from that chemical, that seems to have worked," Leatherhead informed the dark-green ninja. Donatello glanced at the crock unsure and with a raised eye-ridge.

"No Cajun-accent… gotta love other realities," he muttered and shook his head. "So… when exactly did this all happen?"

"What do you mean?" Don was confused over the question, could it be that Donatello couldn't remember. "What exactly do you remember?"

"Ah… waking up chained in a basement I think… seeing the assassin, learning he was hired by Krang to get rid of me and my brothers… then it's fuzzy," Donatello said and shook his head.

"So you don't remember anything for the past five months?" The purple clad turtle's mouth opened in surprise. This was quite different than with Raphael who had suffered from blank spots in his memory. Donatello seemed to have no memory at all.

"Five months?" the dark green ninja asked, glancing around he saw everybody nod.

"You and your brothers were prisoner of the assassin for five months. You all underwent torture during that time. My brothers and I busted you all out, that was roughly three days ago," Don explained to him. His counterpart just stared at the olive-green reptile as if he had grown a second head.

"Interesting, it does seem that a period of five months has been erased from his memory. Of course he was in little state during that time to really remember much," Honeycutt analyzed.

"There is one other thing," Don said and walked closer to the bed. "You see the chemical also acted as a bit of a catalyst."

"What do you mean?" Donatello asked.

"Look at your body, see anything too different?" the purple-clad masked turtle asked. Donatello tilted his head for a moment as he stared confused at his counterpart, but then he began examining himself. For a moment the turtle blinked in surprise before looking shocked up.

"Well… I don't recall being that muscular, my plastron and carapace feel thicker and my skin feels denser," he whispered. Don got a mirror from a nearby table and gave it to Donatello. The dark-green turtle looked in it and his eyes almost bulged out in shock.

"My beak… my beak is… it's… longer…" he stammered.

"The chemical prompted a very slow secondary mutation. Fortunately it seems to have stopped after we stumbled up on the cure," Don explained to him. "You are also two inches taller."

"I am?" Donatello put the mirror down. "Will this last?"

"We don't know. The mutagen in your blood is highly unstable. It might in the future trigger further mutation in you," the purple clad turtle told his counterpart. Then he added. "And in your brothers."

"What?" Donatello's jaw dropped. Suddenly he felt dizzy and almost fell over. Leatherhead and Splinter helped him lie down.

"We better let you rest, you are just recently awoken," the old rat suggested.

"Sounds like an idea," Donatello murmured weakly. He was going to add something more but was already falling asleep. He just had no strength to keep awake for now.

Don sat down on a chair with a sigh. Then he picked up his Shell-Cell and dialed a number. He had to wait for a little while before there was an answer.

"Yeah Leo? It's Don," the olive green turtle said. "Yeah, we managed to cure him. He woke up few minutes ago, but is resting now."

"No, we'll let him rest for now, he needs it. We'll probably come in a day or two," he told his brother on the other line. "How are things at the farm?"

"Ok, good, we'll let you know when we are coming." He finally hung up and put the cell back on his belt.

"Well, Michelangelo seems to be making a full recovery, he and Mikey are apparently teaming up together in pranks," Don told the others and grinned a little. Now he was somewhat relieved not being at the farmhouse. "They are still a little worried about Raphael and Leonardo. Though Raphael seems to be making some process."

"That's good to hear, maybe it will help them to learn their brother is cured," Splinter said and eyed the sleeping turtle. Don nodded and looked at Leatherhead who was walking back to were he had been working previously.

"Thanks for the help here guys, I still doubt I would have gotten this far without you," he told both the croc and the professor.

"You are more than welcome Donatello," Leatherhead told his friend with a smile.

"Indeed. Though we only stumbled up on the cure, that is often how process in science is made," Honeycutt told the reptile.

Suddenly they heard a Shell-Cell ring tone. Leatherhead eyed his that lay on the table but it was not ringing. Don glanced at his own but that one made no sound. Splinter produced his phone from his robe to learn it was his.

"Yes hello? Oh greetings Michelangelo," Splinter said in the phone and then listened to what the voice on the other end said. A wry smile came on the old rat's muzzle.

"That is good, very good. Yes I shall return to the lair at once," he said and rose up from his chair. Then the old rat hung up and put the phone back.

"Was that Mikey?" Don asked wondering what his brother had wanted. Splinter shook his head.

"No, that was his deputy counterpart," his sensei told him, still smiling. "I must return to the lair for a moment. I shall return shortly."

"Want me to come with you?" the purple clad one asked preparing to stand up but he was stopped.

"No need, my son, I shall not be long," he said and left Leatherhead's home.

"What was that all about?" Don wondered and scratched his head confused, but he got no answer from either Leatherhead or Honeycutt.

Meanwhile Donatello stirred and slowly turned his head and opened his eyes. He saw Don cleaning up a bit on his workspace. Leatherhead was putting things away, while the professor had connected once more to the computer and was doing some analysis.

"Oh you're awake?" Don noticed after awhile that his counterpart was awake.

"Yeah… I… kind of thirsty," Donatello muttered.

"I shall get some water," Leatherhead said and immediately walked towards where he had his kitchen in the old subway station.

Don walked to the bed and helped the dark-green turtle to sit up. Donatello rubbed the back of his neck and his head hung a bit. Then he finally eyed his olive-green counterpart.

"Where are my brothers?" he asked quietly.

"At a farmhouse that we sometimes use for rest and recuperation," Don explained to him. "A friend of ours owns it."

"How are they?" Donatello whispered, feeling really bad now that he had no memory of his imprisonment.

"Well, Michelangelo seems to be doing well. Raphael too, it's Leonardo we worry about the most," the olive-green reptile told him. The dark-green one didn't respond and just seemed to sink into deep thoughts.

Leatherhead returned with a glass of water and Donatello drank from it, but he seemed absent minded now. Don tried to talk with him again, but got no response. Then something prompted the dark-green turtle to look up, a voice addressing him.

"Donatello, my student and son, I am relieved to see you are all right."

 **End Chapter 14**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 06/07 2006

The Leo centric interlude chapter.

It is happening around the same time and chapter 14 so we begin in the lair and end at the farmhouse.

 **Extra warning: This chapter features much stronger implications of sexual abuse than the previous chapters. Please take heed to the warning and the rating of this story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

"It's ok Leonardo, its ok. We are safe," Raphael whispered soothingly. He held his brother in his arms. Leonardo cried bitterly and clung to the other dark-green turtle.

Raphael and Michelangelo had woken up by a scream from their brother. Then Leonardo had started kicking and hitting in a fierce struggle with something or someone. It had taken both younger turtle a while to get their brother to wake up, who constantly begged for mercy.

"Please… no… no more… please… PLEASE!" he had continued on.

When Leonardo had finally been woken up the scarred turtle had wrapped his trembling arms around Raphael. Then he began crying, sobbing loudly and squeezing his worried brother.

It was the second night they were all three together in their rescuers lair. Donatello was still being helped in another place. Meanwhile the three other stayed and tried to heal in their counterparts' home.

Michelangelo had one hand on Leonardo's carapace and tried to talk with his brother as well. Raphael patted the crying turtle on the back and rocked him slowly back and forth. The two were starting to get worried; they recalled too well how long it had taken their brother to recover the first time. How long would it take this time? Now Leonardo refused to respond to anybody.

"It's ok Leonardo. Nobody is going to hurt you," Raphael continued to try to soothe his brother. The sobbing had quieted down, but he was still crying.

"I don't understand something," Michelangelo whispered and eyed his other brother. "Why him? Why does that assassin creep have to hurt him so much?"

"Good question." Raphael shook his head. "I think we'll never know."

They noticed that the crying had finally stopped; Leonardo was leeping in his brother's arms. Carefully the scarred turtle was laid down on the couch bed. The other two turtles then lay down, hoping to catch some more sleep.

At the same moment up on the second level, Leo crouched by the ledge and stared in the direction of the entertainment area. The blue-masked ninja's brow was sunken in a heavy frown. He had naturally heard the cries and the sobs, but he had allowed Leonardo's brothers to handle this. After all, he needed them much more than a counterpart who barely understood the pain he was going through.

"Is that why I can't help him?" he muttered, his eyes narrowing. "Because I truly do not understand what he's going through? I had a near miss. Nothing actually happened, but he…"

"Mikey could relate to Michelangelo, they both suffered the same. Raph managed to connect with Raphael. Don's counterpart is unconscious and ill. But my counterpart is wounded with deep mental wounds… wounds I'm not sure how to help healing." Leo shook his head.

"And I doubt it helps that I look like his tormentor." The blue-clad turtle gritted his teeth; he was really starting to resent that particular fact.

"Are you all right my son?" the voice of Splinter addressed him. Leo glanced to his left and saw his sensei stand there close by.

"I'm not sure sensei…" the turtle admitted. "I don't think it is a good idea that I interact at all with my counterpart. I'm probably just a horrid reminder for him."

"I do not believe so, my son," the old ninja master said stroking his muzzle thoughtfully. His student look at him confused but didn't say a word.

"You see, while you were working on finding where Raphael's brothers were, I spoke with Raphael. He told me about his world, he told me in fuller detail about when his brother was abducted and later returned from the assassin. Leonardo had no reminders of his imprisonment while recovering. Yet he hung around depressed, had severe nightmares and was only a shadow of who he was," Splinter explained to him. "So I believe he's just having natural reactions. I am sure he will, with your and his brothers' help, heal in time."

 _If I could only sound so sure._ Leo sighed and looked down. The turtle glanced up when a furry hand was gently laid on his shoulder.

"Remember my son, you are not the assassin and I do think your injured counterpart knows that too. Help him believe that," the old rat said with a nod before disappearing back to Leo's room where he was sleeping. The blue-clad turtle rose up and headed towards Don's bedroom.

 _It's just that it's also bothering me that I might possibly turn into a version of the assassin._ He shuddered before going through the doorway.

* * *

Leonardo was back in the pool swimming, or drifting, slowly in circles. Again with an expression that indicated no interest in his surrounding area. Near the edge his brother Raphael stood and beside him Leo, both stared worried down at him as he swam.

"It's been about two days since we got your brothers out of there and he always goes to the pool," the blue-masked turtle said and crouched.

The scarred turtle in the water didn't pay much attention to them, thus he missed what his brother said. Leonardo's mind was far away, not in the present but deep in the past. The water helped him get rid of the feeling that he was being touched. Every time he left the water he kept feeling the intrusive hands going over him, but not in the pool. There he only felt the water around his body.

He heard the voices address him but the turtle kept ignoring them. They wanted him out of the water, Leonardo knew. The ninja was not going to leave it, not if he could help it. They wouldn't understand, they hadn't been touched like him.

 _'Shh, its ok, it's ok.'_ The whispering voice of the assassin emerged in his mind. Leonardo closed his eyes and tried to ignore it, but it was strong.

 _'You have been a good boy now Leonardo. Very good.'_ Leonardo ducked his head underwater and for a while swam under the surface.

 _'Shh, don't cry.'_ The turtle shot up from below and continued to float on the surface. Aside from the assaulting voice in his mind, he could hear the others by the bank.

"So it's decided, we got to the farmhouse?"

"Yes, I believe it would be good for them to have a change of scenery."

"Did the cyborg leave yet? Michelangelo wanted to say goodbye to Michelle."

"The cyborg will return. He just wanted to let his April know about the situation."

"If you don't mind I would like to see how your Don is processing with his counterpart."

"Very well then, Mr. Jones won't arrive just yet. I'll take the magistrate and the deputy to Leatherheads home. Raphael, try to coax your brother to leave the pool. He will need to dry himself before leaving the lair."

"I'll try."

Yet again they were going to get him out of the pool. He made no sign he had heard and just kept swimming. His name was mentioned few times. Then there was a splash as someone dove into the pool.

"Ok it's time to go." The voice was familiar yet different. A hand was laid on his shoulder to stop his circling, the turtle was turned and he stared at his blue masked counterpart.

Leonardo didn't say anything and allowed Leo to pull him towards the bank. There Raphael helped the blue-clad one to pull the scarred turtle out of the water. They began drying him and then the turtle was led towards the entertainment area.

"Just sit here, we will be going soon," he heard Leo say as the dark green turtle was seated in the couch.

Now he put his arms around himself and just stared forward. The reptile tried to ignore the feeling and to ward off the thoughts. He started to shiver; his hands began rubbing the arms.

 _'I told you Pretty Boy, stay away from there.'_ Yet again the growling voice of the assassin intruded his mind

 _'I'm afraid I am going to have to punish you for this.'_ Leonardo cringed and curled up in the couch.

 _'It can stop hurting.'_ The turtle tightened up in a ball. Sobs started to escape from his lips and the tears were crawling down.

"Hey dude," a gentle voice addressed him. A hand was gently put on his shoulder.

"No… no please," Leonardo whispered, his mind still stuck in the past and thinking it was somebody else.

"Hey it's ok Leonardo. It's me, Michelangelo," the voice said. The scarred turtle just curled tighter and refused to look up.

"How long has he been like this?" another voice asked.

"I don't know, saw him like this," Michelangelo responded, he then tried to pull his brother up. Leonardo resisted now and tried to sink back down to the couch.

"Please no… I don't want this… please… no more…" he continued to beg.

"Nobody is going to hurt you dude, its ok," his brother's voice said soothingly.

Finally, Michelangelo got a little help. Leonardo was uncurled despite his protests, the other turtle then took his brother in a tight embrace. The scarred ninja wrapped his arms around him as well and clung tight, he continued to cry on his brother's shoulder.

"Thanks Leo," Michelangelo said to the blue-masked turtle who nodded and walked away to allow the brothers to be alone.

Michelangelo began rocking his sibling slowly back and forth, while at the same time patting him gently on the carapace and talking soothingly to him. Leonardo had quit begging his unseen tormentor for mercy, but the tears kept coming.

"Come one Leonardo. You have to be strong compadre, we will get through this," Michelangelo whispered.

Raphael arrived shortly later and sat down on the other side. He gently put one hand on his brother's carapace. He didn't say a word, only watched his brother sadly, wondering how they would pull through this. Michelangelo fortunately seemed to be on a speedy recovery. He was already starting to joke around with his counterpart. However, there was still lingering sadness in him.

Raphael wasn't so confident about himself. Sure he felt better, but still he couldn't bring himself to return back to his normal attitude. It was like something was missing, somehow it just felt wrong.

"Our ride will be here soon, come on Leonardo, let's go to the elevator," Michelangelo said gently and with his other brother's help they pulled their broken sibling up. Then both guided him towards the elevator.

* * *

 _"Hello Leonardo, miss me?" The assassin approached the chained turtle who had given up for the tenth time to break his bonds._

 _"Can't say I did," Leo retorted and glared at the smirking turtle in front of him._

 _Leonardo knelt in front of his prisoner and with his right hand roughly grabbed under Leo's chin and jaw, the turtle tried to break free from the grip but the assassin proved very strong._

 _"I'm just here to tell you that your little world will soon start falling apart. Already one of your brothers has been brought under mind control and is now a servant of your brother's double and your other brother, what's his name, wears a red bandanna… Raphael yes, he is on his way to be a test subject. Your sensei rat is also going to be tested for something, I don't know what. Don't care really. Leonardo smiled wider when Leo began growling in anger and tried once more to struggle from both the iron grip and the steel bonds on his hands._

 _"How does the old saying go, 'it's the end of the world as I know it, and I feel just fine'." The assassin chuckled finally letting go of Leo who accidentally was flung back since he was still struggling and knocked his head against the wall behind him._

 _"You better hope I don't get free from these bonds," Leo whispered feeling disoriented after ramming his head into the stone._

 _"Hm, never heard that one before," his double said sarcastically and stood up. Leo managed to get back to his knees but was still feeling jaded after the hit so he didn't attempt to stand up. His head was bowed as it felt heavy. He probably had a mild concussion._

 _He froze when a gloved finger stroke gently the edge of his carapace. The turtle violently jerked back and sat now up against the wall staring almost shocked at the black clad assassin._

 _"Your carapace is in perfect shape and health, considering your living condition impressed." The hint of admiration in his voice didn't make Leo feel better, since the eyes had a very strange glint._

Leo's eyes shot open and the turtle sat up on the mattress he was sleeping on. One hand was over his rapidly beating heart, the sweat was pouring down. The turtle looked around and breathed a sigh in relief.

He was not chained up and he was not in a stone room. The ninja was in the farmhouse with the others. Since they were seven turtles, there had been lack of beds. Thus Casey, with April's help, had brought extra mattresses. Leo had opted to sleep on one, leaving the few beds to the counterparts.

The humans had then left for now but were going to come the next day with more supplies. The turtles weren't sure how long they would be staying at the farm so they would need them.

Slowly Leo stood up and stretched, it was still night. They had arrived late at the farm anyway, just about managed to settle in before most of them went to bed. The turtle carefully made his way to the stairs and silently got down. He just had to go out to the porch and get some fresh air.

The turtle stepped outside and took a deep breath. He hadn't dreamt about this particular event for a while. In fact only recalled it happening once and that was almost two years ago by now.

Leo rubbed the back of his neck as he stared up at the starlit sky. He recalled having been deeply disturbed that time, even feared that his black clad counterpart would go further than just stare at him greedily. It hadn't happened, but the mental images still lingered.

The turtle was then aware that he wasn't alone. He glanced to his left and his eye ridge rose high. On a bench sat one of the dark-green turtles. Judging by the scars on the shoulders and the line on the plastron it was Leonardo. His head was hung and he rested his hands in his lap.

"Oh, I didn't notice you where there," Leo addressed his counterpart. The dark green ninja slowly looked up. The other turtle cringed a bit when seeing the blank and lifeless eyes staring at him.

"I… am I bad?" he whispered.

"What? Of course not, why do you ask that?" The basic green one frowned while he wondered about the question. His counterpart didn't seem to focus on him, rather he stared past him.

"I…" Leonardo swallowed something and looked away. "I…did nothing… didn't stop them… I… I started to… to enjoy…"

"That was just your mind playing a trick on you. I doubt you really enjoyed anything that happened to you," Leo said and shook his head. He was though relieved that his counterpart was finally speaking. "You were there for months. It's understandable that you would start believing something like that."

"I couldn't stop them… I couldn't meet my brothers… I was punished if I did…" Leonardo sunk his head once more, staring at the wooden floor.

"I… I can still feel it… his hands… his beak on me. M-my tail… I can't show it… it's…" The dark green turtle fell silent and grimaced. Leo cringed and now felt even sorrier for his counterpart. The poor guy had been viciously abused. The basic green ninja really wanted to run a katana through his assassin counterpart now.

"Do I make you uncomfortable, my presence that is?" Leo decided to ask. That particular point had do be cleared. The question caused the dark-green turtle to look up.

"No," Leonardo's answer surprised his counterpart. "Y-you look like him… b-but you are not him… he has… I don't know… presence I think… you are different... and you don't talk like him."

 _Well… that's good to hear,_ the basic-green turtle thought.

"I won't pretend to know what you are going through. I can hardly imagine the torture and sufferings you endured. But we all want to help you. Your brothers want to help you, my brothers and I want to help. You are not alone here. I'm glad you are finally talking, I'm ready to listen if you want to continue to talk," he than told the dark-green one.

Leonardo didn't say a word. He looked down again for a moment before standing up of the bench. Without looking or answering his counterpart, the scarred turtle walked back into the house. Leo shook his head; well at least the turtle had spoken a bit. He just hoped it would continue.

* * *

"Ow!" Mikey rubbed his head and quickly made himself scarce. He had just been whacked on the head by Magistrate Raphael's walking stick. However, the wielder was is own brother, Raph not the mask-less very dark-green turtle.

"Thanks," the red clad one said and gave his counterpart the staff again.

"No problem, I remember how pestering little brothers can be," the magistrate said grinning wickedly. "I guess it's safe to say that the Michelangelos are doing fine. Wasn't that the second prank they pulled on you?"

"Yeah," Raph grunted and sat down on the bench beside the older turtle. "First that damn buzzer and now this old note-on-the-back gag."

"Heh and now we aren't dealing with one Mike but two," the mask-less turtle chuckled and shook his head. They were on the porch. The magistrate was just enjoying the nice weather, while his counterpart was mulling over revenge against the orange masked one.

"Don just called." Leo came walking out of the house and was placing his shell-cell on the belt. "They managed to cure Donatello."

"Well that's good news," Magistrate Raphael said and nodded.

"Yeah, Don said they would come in a day or two. They are letting him rest a bit first," the blue masked turtle said and looked around. "Where are the dark-green turtles?"

"Michelangelo is off somewhere with Mikey," the magistrate said and glanced at Raph who growled and shook his head. "I saw Raphael going to the barn I think. No idea where Leonardo is."

"Hm, if you see Michelangelo or Leonardo, let them know that Donatello has been cured," Leo said and headed towards the barn.

There he did meet Raphael who was exploring around it. The blue-clad turtle told him about Donatello and the dark-green turtle lit up when hearing that.

"Really? Oh thank goodness… I really… I feared he was lost," he said smiling now wide.

"He'll come here in few days, have you seen your brothers anywhere?" Leo asked.

"Not Michelangelo, he's… well he's always with Mikey now. I won't stop him though, he's having fun. Leonardo, I think he went inside the barn," Raphael said now with a frown. Both turtles walked around the building to reach the door and walked inside. They spotted were the scarred turtle sat in one corner staring into the distance.

They went to him and crouched down on either side of the ninja. Raphael took a deep breath before telling his brother that Donatello was fine. Leonardo didn't respond, just stared forward. Leo frowned. This was strange. It was as if the scarred reptile had reverted back to his state he was in back at the lair. But last night he had actually talked.

 _With me, when we were alone and his brothers weren't there._ The blue clad ninja glanced at Raphael who was trying to get his brother to talk.

"Raphael, um could you go and get a water bottle from the house?" Leo asked him. Reluctantly Raphael rose up and walked out. Almost as soon as the dark-green turtle was out, the scarred one sighed and looked down.

"This is only a guess… but you don't want to talk with them, do you?" The basic green one wondered, staring attentively at his counterpart. Leonardo took a deep breath before glancing at Leo.

"Yes…I just… I made a resolve," the scarred reptile said and his expression actually hardened. "When this… when he abused me… for the first time…I decided that they did not need… need to hear what happened to me. Not everything at least…. I gave them the gist when I told Master Splinter what happened… but I never went into full detail… and the more disturbing things… I only told Splinter… they. My brothers don't need to know… they don't need to know the sufferings I endured."

"Are you sure that is wise, they want to help you," Leo told him.

"If you were raped, would you tell your brothers? Willingly?" his counterpart asked.

The basic green turtle was about to answer but then saw that it wasn't so simple. It was easy now to say yes, but wouldn't that technically be a lie? Leo realized that he probably wouldn't want to go into that subject, if it happened. He would probably confide with Splinter. However, it wouldn't be easy with his brothers.

"No… I guess not," he finally admitted. "At least not directly."

"Exactly… I… they can't help me… not with this," Leonardo said and hung his head again. Leo put a hand on his shoulder.

"I think you are wrong there. They can help you; just by being there for you they are helping you. They offer their support; they have been comforting you every time you have a breakdown," he said. "I can only offer you so much support… as a friend. But you need your family more."

"Friend?" Leonardo glanced up at his basic-green counterpart.

"I figured you would need one," Leo said and now grinned a bit. Then the turtle held out his hand. "I am ready to be a friend that listens if you wish to talk. As I told you last night, I want to help you. I made a resolve myself. I promised to bring your brothers their brother back."

Leonardo stared for a moment at the hand that was held out in front of him. Then eyed his counterpart again who waited patiently. Finally, a small smile crawled on one corner of the turtle's beak and he reached with his hand and took Leo's.

"Ok… friend," he said and they shook hands.

"So do you want to talk?" Leo asked and now sat down beside his counterpart. The dark-green turtle looked at him and was thinking.

"A-actually… I was curious how you guys know him… you know…" he was smiling nervously as he spoke.

The blue-masked turtle took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he nodded. Then he told him about the first time they met the assassin. When Leo reached the point were he had woken up chained to the wall, he noticed that Leonardo had frozen in shock. Then suddenly the dark-green turtle grabbed for Leo's nearest hand with both his and held it tight.

"I-I'm sorry…sorry you had to… had to have that happen to you," he whispered shocked.

"It was difficult yes, being so helpless." Leo nodded but didn't try to free his hand. Leonardo allowed him to continue the story. The dark-green turtle cringed almost the whole time. Leo then finished the story by telling him when he and his brothers met Raphael and when they went to rescue Leonardo and the others.

"I guess I should thank you… for that," the dark-green ninja said and let go of Leo's hand.

"No need, you guys needed help and we were more than willing to aid you," his counterpart said.

"Yeah… doing good is always worth it, even if you might get nothing… nothing but flak for it," Leonardo whispered and managed to maintain a small smile on his beak. "Master Splinter used to tell us that."

"Doing the right thing, yes, that is its own reward." Leo nodded in agreement. "Our Splinter has taught us something similar."

"I… I wish Master Splinter was here," the scarred reptile whispered and looked once more down. Leo put one hand reassuringly on his shoulder, squeezing it a bit.

"They are working on it, the magistrate told me that," he assured him.

 _I just hope it won't take too long,_ Leo added in his mind.

 **End chapter 15**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 11/07 2006

This is the last of the interlude chapters.

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

"Mikey, I'm not your father but so help me, if I catch you again I'm going to lay you across my lap and spank you with the walking stick," the magistrate growled and let go of Mikey's mask tails.

"Ok, ok," the orange-masked turtle yelped and ran out of the kitchen. The magistrate had been sitting by the table drinking coffee and reading the paper. The blue-greenish turtle had been trying to pull a prank, but despite his leg injury, his brother's counterpart was surprisingly quick.

"That's a little different from the Raph I know," April commented with a smile, she was putting away few more groceries she and Casey Jones had arrived with.

"Let me guess, he would chase him around trying to pummel him," the brown-shirt wearing turtle guessed with a grin. The woman nodded and glanced at him.

"Guilty of that myself I'm afraid, but that was long ago," he told the woman and sighed a little. "Have to admit, would love to have my Mikey try and pull a prank."

"I take it it's been a while since that happened," April wondered as she closed the refrigerator. She wasn't quite familiar with these particular turtles, though the ones she knew had told her about them.

"Not since Leo went nuts," the magistrate muttered and shook his head.

"Do I have a counterpart in your world?" the woman decided to change the subject, it was clearly bringing the turtle down. Raphael looked up and chuckled.

"Of course you do, it's only been a week since I spoke with her on the phone last time," he said and rubbed his chin. "She and our Casey Jones moved out of the city, Don, Mike and I keep in contact with them. But they are both busy, April is working in a technology firm in Boston and Casey actually joined the army."

"Wow." April could only say. Then into the kitchen burst Michelangelo.

"They are coming! They are coming!" the dark-green turtle shouted waving his arms and was out again in a flash.

"And here I thought Mikey was hyper," the woman muttered. She then helped the magistrate to stand up; they left the kitchen and went out to the porch. Raph and Casey sat out there and the two Michelangelos were on the driveway. Everybody stared forward at the approaching Battle-Shell. The only ones not present were the Leonardos. Raphael was leaning on the railing.

"So who are coming? It's Don with Donatello and Splinter right?" April asked.

"Yeah, and my cyborg double with his niece, I think his April his coming too," Raph responded. He was though silent about another person coming. Don had called ahead, but asked it would remain secret for now.

"Where are Leo and his counterpart?" the woman looked around trying to spot the particular turtles.

"Went hiking," Raphael answered. He did his best to hide his feelings. The turtle was feeling a little jealous how Leonardo had become attached to Leo for the past two days, ever since coming to the farmhouse.

Yet he felt he couldn't complain that much. Sure Leonardo didn't speak very much with his brothers, but he at least slept close by them. When he had nightmares, he sought comfort from them. However, during waking hours, he seemed like to hang around Leo more.

Raphael had wondered why that was for a while. At first he feared that it was because of who Leo resembled. Thus Leonardo just felt compelled to follow his counterpart, like he did back when they were prisoners. Somehow, that just didn't sound right. The scarred turtle didn't show the same signs; in fact he actually seemed to enjoy the company this time around.

The dark-green turtle was brought out of his thoughts when the Battle Shell stopped right in front of the house. The doors opened on both sides and the back. From the drivers seat Don stepped out and the passenger side came Master Splinter. There was chorus of greetings from everybody, but then the attention was brought to the back. The ground shook a little when Cyborg Raphael stepped heavily down. He held out his hands to somebody, helping his wife down. This version of April was holding Michelle who was squirming and fussing, wanting to be put on the ground.

Michelangelo and Raphael jumped forward. They were going to run to the back of the truck but were both stopped, one by Don and the other by the cyborg who both grinned. Then the dark-green turtles heard a familiar voice, talking to somebody.

"Ok careful now, it's a bit of a step," Donatello was talking to somebody, but he was obscured from view at the moment.

"Thank you Donatello, I think I can manage," an old voice said. Both Michelangelo and Raphael blinked for a moment, the familiarity of the voice slowly sunk in. Don and the cyborg let go of them, but the two turtles didn't react just yet. Not until into view came their brother and with him a brown mutant rat, wearing pinkish/purple kimono and holding a walking stick.

"MASTER SPLINTER!" They both shouted at the top of their lungs and then flew forward. The old rat was hugged tightly by the two turtles who refused completely to let go.

"Yes my students, I am here. It is good to see you as well, my sons," the brown furred Splinter said, equally happy to see them and hugged back. Finally he managed to direct them towards Donatello. "But I think your brother wants to say hello as well."

"Donatello I'm so…" Raphael stopped as he spotted something wrong; his brother was whole two inches taller than him. Michelangelo stepped carefully closer looking Donatello up and down.

"You look um…" the turtle then promptly knocked on his brother's plastron. "Denser?"

"Yeah, side effect from the mutation I went through," Donatello said and then grabbed both his brothers in a hug.

"Well at least you're awake and normal… well as normal as we can ever be," Raphael chuckled as he parted from this brother. Then after a slight hesitation, he glanced back to his sensei.

"What about Mona Lisa or our April, did they come?" he asked.

"I am afraid not Raphael, they wanted to come but Donatello's counterpart mentioned that you are all still healing. Thus I deemed it best that they wait until you are ready to return," the brown rat told him but then smiled a bit. "But rest assured, Mona does miss you very much."

While the dark-green turtles and their master were happily rejoined, the others were nearby talking. Michelle had won the battle and her mother finally put her on the grassy ground. Exactly what the little turtle girl wanted, she immediately began running around giggling and then promptly began rolling around on the grass.

"Michelle!" her mother groaned and ran to her daughter who kept rolling.

"Well, so much for that dress," the cyborg muttered with a grin. The little dress the girl wore was now littered in green and brown spots, not originally on the cream-colored fabric.

"The growth is irreversible," Don was explaining to the others about his dark-green counterpart. "We don't know yet about the other mutations that occurred, like the denser shell and skin, we are hoping it will though subside a bit."

"Well at least he's awake and sane, that's what is important I think," the magistrate commented, he was now seated on the bench. His leg having taken all the standing it could take for now.

"I don't suppose you have a washing machine here?" Michelle's mother came now walking holding the squealing turtle girl. She wanted back to the ground and play on the grass.

"We do actually," April addressed her counterpart and gestured for her to follow. She had been mildly surprised to see that though there was likeness, they didn't look exactly a like. April from Turtleland looked a bit older as well as her face was more drawn.

Michelle was undressed and handed to the cyborg. The two women disappeared into the house. The mechanical turtle chuckled and then slowly crouched down to let the little girl down on the ground. She immediately began her previous game of rolling around in the grass.

All talk stopped when they spotted the two Leonardos come walking from around the corner of the house. Both turtles stopped short when seeing the gathering in front of the house. Mikey had engaged in a game of tag with Michelle in front of the porch, but the orange-clad turtle halted when seeing them.

Leonardo was frozen for a moment as his gaze fell first on his brother Donatello and then at the brown rat. He blinked and then shook his head, as if wondering if he was dreaming. He looked again. When Splinter hadn't disappeared yet and held out his hands, the turtle darted towards him.

Splinter was once more hugged but this time much tighter and actually lifted off from the ground. Leonardo clung tight to him and couldn't hold his emotions, he began crying. The old ninja master was put down and the turtle sunk to his knees, but still held his father.

The brown furred rat as well held his scarred son. Smiling wide and warm, gently caressing his scalp and talking soothingly to the crying turtle. The healing could really begin now.

* * *

The weeks began to pass. With the arrival of their sensei, the healing of the dark-green turtles accelerated, especially for the three of them. However, almost as expected, it took much longer for Leonardo. He still rarely talked unless directly spoken to, except if he was with either his Master Splinter or Leo.

He kept having nightmares. Some very vicious judging by his screams and begs. It sometimes took hours to calm the scarred turtle down. Yet he refused to talk about them with anyone but his sensei and counterpart. Others could only guess what they were all about from his begging.

Donatello was probably the best off despite his sudden growth. Although he did feel a bit guilty not remembering a thing, it probably was the reason he almost instantly reverted to his normal behavior. Already he was beginning to go into friendly competitions with his counterpart. One for example was seeing who could fix things fastest. At other times he was helping Don with various things, fixing up the Battle Shell or even repair work around the farm.

He was still adjusting. One effect from his secondary mutation was sudden increase in strength. He sometimes didn't even realize it. He had already bent few things not possible for a normal guy to bend, broken few other things as well. This caused him to get a little insecure for a while but he slowly got over it. The cyborg actually helped him getting more aware of his strength.

"This hand could crush a skull without a single effort," Cyborg Raphael had told him once, showing the dark-green turtle one of his metallic hands. Then he turned to where little Michelle was playing on the floor, he carefully bent down and picked the girl up on the carapace. The girl squealed and giggled waving her arms and legs.

"What I do is not grabbing, I simply put my fingers around her. I place my hand on the carapace; I do not try to press to get a grip. Because I know my hands are strong enough not needing a firm grip," he said and held now the turtle girl more properly before allowing her to go back down.

Donatello soon became more aware how strong he was, especially when the cyborg and Don began actively testing it. His beak reverted mostly back to its original shape, although it was slightly bigger. His plastron and carapace remained a bit thicker than his brothers did.

Michelangelo had already been turning back into his older self. With Splinter's arrival that stage was even finished sooner. The dark green turtle was the cheerful one once more, running all over the place with Mikey or Michelle, even both. The turtle had become a bit attached to the girl and was often found playing with her along with his counterpart. Of course with his attitude brought back, so came his appetite and soon he and Mikey had held many baking contests.

With his family now safe and healing, Raphael as well began slowly reverting to his truer form. For the first part he hung mostly around his two counterparts, the magistrate and Raph. He felt kind of obligated to help them while their legs were healing properly, seeing that both had a big hand in rescuing his brothers.

Once both his counterparts were healed, the dark green turtle found himself wandering the woods sometimes, but he didn't escape them so easily, Raph sometimes followed and as did the magistrate. Both seemed determined to keep him company in turn. However, the red-masked one was beginning to groan a bit at the jokes Raphael was once more beginning to shoot.

Splinter, the brown furred one, watched pleased as his sons healed in their own ways around the farm. He had feared for them, not knowing for so long if they were alive or not. Deep down he had always known they lived, but still sometimes the fear took him.

He had been shocked when the dogi-wearing turtle had suddenly appeared, claiming to know where his sons were. Nevertheless, the old rat had felt he could trust this stranger, he did not regret it. He had hardly been able to contain his joy when seeing Donatello, then later Michelangelo and Raphael and finally Leonardo.

Soon they would need to begin their training once more. They didn't seem to have lost too much of their edge. Michelangelo was agile and swift as ever, Donatello had been mucking around with Don's Bo occasionally. Raphael had as well been seen playing with Raph's sai. The only one who ever got permission from the red clad one to touch them.

It was just Leonardo who had not been spotted doing anything. Leo was silent if asked, claiming it was not his to answer. In truth the two turtles went deep into the forest, there Leonardo had begun slowly and eventually to train, he didn't want to reveal it just yet. Leo was there only to help him spot any rust in his movements and be a sparring partner.

"It's now been one and a half month," Splinter with the brown fur commented and sipped on his tea cup.

"You believe they are ready?" his gray furred counterpart inquired drinking from his own cup as well. They were both seated in the kitchen.

"I do believe they are ready to dress up once more and begin their real training," the brown rat said.

The grey ninja master nodded in agreement. He had observed that as well. Although the healing would in truth take a much longer time, they were ready to begin starting their normal routines. One step was bringing them back their gear. It had all been lost and thus had to be custom made from scratch.

"I must give credit to you and your sons in this, without your help I fear their recovery would not have been this fast," the brown ninja master said bowing his head slightly. His counterpart smiled.

"It was more than welcome. We are honored to have had hand in helping them," the gray Splinter bowed in turn.

The two rats then set things into motion. They began to talk with the humans, the two Aprils and Casey agreed to go to town and see if they couldn't find something. Then the gray elder gathered his four sons in a private meeting. The other Splinter decided to use the opportunity and take his four recovering students to a meditation session.

"Our guests are about ready to begin their training once more," Splinter began the meeting up in the attic of the farmhouse.

"I am very proud how each of you have helped your counterparts heal, been an additional support for them during this trying time," the old rat then added and smiled. The four turtles either nodded or shrugged, depending on whom.

"Now our human friends have gone to see if they can't gather material to create new gear for our guests. My own counterpart has expressed the desire that it should look as close to their original ones, thus the pads and the wrist bands must be dyed in the same color and their masks." Splinter then continued with the original topic. "The main problem will be the weapons. I believe we didn't take much spare weapons when we came here."

"That's right," Don mentioned and sighed. "Still, there is plenty of leftover metal in the barn. Raph and Leo did make a pair of katana there once."

"And we can do it again," Leo shot in and nodded. "As well as a pair of sai."

"Find me a good link of chains and I can do nunchucks." Mikey grinned, he sat on the floor and was petting sleeping Klunk.

"A Bo is easy enough to handle… wait I think I do have a spare one in the Battle Shell. It's in good condition," Don said.

"Miss O'Neil told me she would see if she could find letter buckles, chances are though they would have to be made as well by our hands. As you probably know now, your counterparts had buckles with their letters on it," Splinter then mentioned.

"That should be easy enough to make," Mikey shrugged and looked at his brothers, none of them disagreed.

"If April and the others can't find any leather dye, then I could probably cook something up easily. The chemicals should be easy enough to make," the purple masked turtle then mentioned.

"Then I believe we have a job to do," Splinter said and slowly rose up. His sons stood up as well, Mikey was careful to pick up his cat and place it on the nearby bed.

The four turtles went immediately to work on the weapons. Mikey did find a good set of chains and after making it in the necessary length; he created a pair of nunchakus. Raph and Leo on the other hand began the metal work in the barn to create a pair of their trademark weapons. The humans returned with the other gear and Don set to work to create dye to color for the leather pads.

Their dark green counterparts were naturally not told what was going on. They were instead kept occupied elsewhere. The magistrate told them about his world, explained about the assassin and few other things. The cyborg as well told them a bit in more detail about his world.

During that time, Ninja Master Donatello arrived along with Luna and Deputy Michelangelo. This was the first time the others saw the Ninja Master since the rescue operation. Nobody dared to mention the stub where his right hand had used to be. It was covered under the black sleeve of his uniform; the opening was tied together in a knot. He still carried two Jo staffs on his back.

Their arrival brought another distraction, Luna had long since laid her egg and she had in fact brought it along. It got a special place in a cradle in the living room. The turtle woman hardly left its side, keeping it very close to where she sat on the couch. Usually had it wrapped in a soft blanket, occasionally shifting it carefully.

The dogi-clad turtle, despite having lost his hand, didn't seem to have changed at all. His general attitude was exactly the same and the last time the others saw him. Of course not everybody did understand his hand signals so he usually did refrain to talk too much with his left hand.

It was soon enough time to present the dark-green ninjas with their new gear. But it would be done individually. Soon each turtle was called aside by each of their counterpart.

* * *

"Ok, no peeking," Mikey instructed his counterpart. Then he looked at Michelle who he held in his arms. "You're going to help right?"

The little girl grabbed her uncle's beak and nodded before releasing it. The orange masked turtle gave her thumbs up and then they turned back to Michelangelo. The three were in the basement of the farmhouse. The blue-greenish turtle dragged his counterpart there to present him with his new gear.

Mikey gave Michelle an orange fabric and they then stepped behind Michelangelo. The orange mask went around the dark green head and after allowing the girl to try tying, the blue-green ninja tied it more properly.

Then he and the turtle child picked up two set of elbow pads, very similar in style and Mikey's just dyed orange. These were put on Michelangelo as well as orange wristbands. Finally Michelle got to make an attempt, standing on the floor, to tie the kneepads. Mikey then fastened them more properly. Lastly the belt went around Michelangelo's waist and was fastened together by a round buckle with the letter M on it.

Through this whole process the dark green turtle had been very quiet, because the moment the mask had gone around his head; the ninja had realized what was happening. He had literally frozen in anticipation and just waited to be allowed to open his eyes.

"Ok, open your eyes," Mikey announced and picked up Michelle from the floor.

Michelangelo slowly opened his eyes, he immediately glanced down and his jaw dropped. He stared at his new gear completely stunned. It was not exactly like his old gear, the style resembled more his counterparts. But the pads and the wrist band were dyed in the mask color, so it was close enough.

"Like it?" the non-letter wearing turtle asked.

"Dude!" Michelangelo finally found his voice and looked up, smiling a beak-straining smile.

"This totally rocks!" He lifted his hand up; Mikey grinned and slapped a high three. Then the M-clad turtle held out his hands flat but this time it was Michelle who did the slap, though patting was more like it from the little girl.

"Hey that's not all," the blue-greenish turtle said and went with his free hand behind his back. From his belt there he pulled out a pair of nunchakus, unlike Mikey's weapon, the handles were wrapped in dark brown leather.

"Cool." Michelangelo grabbed the new weapons and at first hugged them tight. Then he backed a step and began few slow swirls, just to test the water.

"They're perfect compadre," the M-wearing turtle beamed. "Hey let's celebrate with a pizza!"

* * *

"So what's going on?" Raphael asked when Raph had pulled him into the kitchen. The red masked turtle didn't say anything, just grinned and walked to kitchen table that contained a box.

"Now first put this on," the very dark green ninja said and pulled out something red from it. He threw it top his counterpart.

Raphael for a moment wasn't sure what he was holding, looked like a ribbon almost until he felt the fabric. Then he spotted the two holes on it and realized it was a mask. His jaw dropped but immediately put it on. Just as he finished, two elbow pads came flying.

The dark green turtle saw now what was happening. The pads were red and he quickly began fastening them on. Then he got a set for his knees and wrist bands. Raph then walked to him with a belt that had a buckle with the letter R on it.

"You guys really didn't have to do this," Raphael protested but was handed the belt and told to put it on.

"And finally." Raph had the whole time held his hand behind the back but brought it forth, holding a pair of sai.

"So that's what you were doing in the barn," his R-wearing counterpart whispered and accepted the weapon. He spun them on his fingers and slowly a grin came over his face. "Oh yeah, Raphael is back in action."

"I hope so, because I'm going to kick yer sorry tail at the first opportunity," Raph said with an evil grin.

"Yeah sure, keep dreaming. Maybe one day it will come true," his counterpart said with a grin. "So test run or is there more?"

"Well, I'm supposed to wait with you here until everybody has donned their gear. Then I think our masters are up to something more," Raph shrugged. "But I think they have a test run in mind."

"Great," he then lifted one sai high up in the air. "They may have taken away my dignity but I have got back my sai."

 _Crud, I keep forgetting._ Raph sighed and palmed his face.

* * *

"Ok it should be in good condition. I have had it in the Battle Shell, just in case something happens to my Bo, but it's all yours now," Don said, he was spinning a Bo staff that had gray ribbon tied around the middle. Then the turtle presented it to his counterpart. They were both in the attic.

Donatello was already in his all purple gear and wearing the D-buckle on his new belt. He took the staff and tried few moves himself. The dark-green turtle smiled at the familiarity of the weapon in his hands. Although he had been testing himself with Don's Bo, it was somehow different to be holding a staff you personally owned.

"Yeah I think it works," he said with nod and promptly put it on his back. Then he looked down and sighed a little while looking at his own body.

"It is going to be weird from now on to be the tall one in the group," he muttered and looked up. "My group that is, since I'm the same height and you and your brothers."

"Not to mention the strongest," Don smiled a little. The density in his counterpart's skin and muscles still hadn't subsided so they figured it was a safe bet by now. The changes weren't going back.

"Yeah. Say you mentioned something also that the mutagen is unstable in us," Donatello said as he nervously fiddled with his purple wristband on the right arm.

"Yes, it could cause a different kind of mutation than happened to you. We aren't completely sure though, we need a better sample of this mutagen to determine it and even find a way to stabilize it," Don told him.

"Hm." The D-wearing turtle furrowed his brow and stroke his chin. "I do know where more mutagen can be found, but it isn't exactly on the easiest to reach places. It is also very rare."

"Where is it?" the non-letter wearing turtle inquired.

"The Technodrome, the mobile fortress of Krang. But that's in Dimension X now, stuck," Donatello told him.

"Yes, well maybe we can find another way," Don suggested and got a positive nod from his counterpart.

* * *

"I'm not sure I'm ready for this," Leonardo whispered and stared at the blue mask in his hand. He looked up at Leo who held the rest of the gear.

"Your Master Splinter feels you are all ready," the basic green turtle commented with a slight shrug.

"Try it at least," he then said gently.

The scarred turtle sighed and glanced at the mask. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and slowly raised his hands. The mask went around his head and he tied the knot. He lowered his hands again and opened his eyes. Now the old familiar feeling of the fabric around his head was back. It was strangely comforting.

Leo handed him the rest of the gear. The process was mostly the same, before putting on the pads and the wrist bands Leonardo took a deep breath. It was only when he came to his belt that he finally smiled.

"Master Splinter gave us all belts… our first belts, all with buckles on it with our letters. It was long ago… I lost mine when the assassin abducted me for the first time. Our April gave me another one, I lost that one when my brothers and I were all abducted," he whispered and looked at Leo.

"I hope I won't lose this one as well," he said and fastened the belt around himself.

"Now, I understood that you don't have a strap like I do to hold the swords," Leo said as he picked up a pair of sheathed swords. "But April found holds that can be put on the belt. It does make them easy to reach, even across your shoulder.

"New swords." Leonardo's eyes opened wide. He allowed Leo to fasten the sheaths on the belt. Then he tried reaching for the handles. As his counterpart had said, it was easily done. He was soon holding two swords with dark leather bands wrapped around the handles.

"I thought no spare weapons were brought," the L-wearing turtle looked at his counterpart confused.

"They weren't, I made them for you," Leo said and smiled when the dark-green turtle's jaw dropped.

"Y-you did? Y-you really shouldn't have… I mean…" He was silenced by the non-letter wearing ninja.

"Hey that's what friends are for, it was no trouble at all," Leo told him. "Now let's get back inside," he said. They were both standing on the porch.

They walked inside and shortly later the Michelangelos came from the basement, the Donatellos from the attic and the Raphaels from the kitchen. All four dark green turtles were presented to the audience in the living room.

"Now that's more like it," the magistrate commented with a wry smile.

"Well now I can finally tell my counterpart apart from Raphael," Deputy Mike muttered under his breath.

Both Splinters stood up, both rats smiling wide and nodding to their respective sons. It was time to begin. The two old ninja masters gestured everybody to step outside, the teenage ninjas went out first, followed by everybody else.

"My students, line up," the brown furred Splinter commanded his four dark-green sons and pointed with his walking stick at a spot further down the driveway.

"My sons, do the same, in front of your counterparts and face them," the gray elder told his own set of turtles.

There was a slight mix up at first; both set were going in a different order. The letter wearing ones went Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo, while the non-letter wearing ones switched Don and Raph around. But they fixed it quickly, by simply using the order of the dark-green ninjas.

"Draw your weapons," both Splinters said at the same time. The eight lined up ninjas bowed for each other before drawing up their weapons.

"Take position!"

"And go!"

 **End chapter 16**

* * *

 **A/N:** I should clarify that the 80's Toon turtles in this particular series, divide a bit from the 80's Toon at this point. I'm ignoring the last two seasons, season 9 and 10 mostly for continuity reasons in regards to the Assassin series. Similar thing will eventually happen in the regard to the 2k3 Toon turtles, as far as their concerned, in the Assassin series, the whole ninja tribunal thing never happens and neither will the Fast Forward bit.

In fact the fourth long instalment in the Assassin series will occur after the whole Gameradon mess in the fourth season. Roughly around the same time and the Ninja Tribunal arc should have started.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 13/07 2006

This chapter starts part 2 of Shattered Shells.

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

 **Assassin's world**

The ex-emperor had a wry smile on his beak as he gently stroke the glass on the stasis tube. From it emitted an eerie purple glow. There were two tubes, both half embedded into the wall. Two screens were above them, displaying vital signs and showed outlines of what looked like small mutant turtles. Donatello chuckled slightly as he lifted the hand from the glass.

 _Everything is going perfectly,_ he thought as he glanced at the two screens. The former overlord was very pleased with what they showed.

The stasis tubes and the whole lab he was in were in another basement of assassin's mansion. Here the ex-emperor was expected to do most of his real work for the black-clad turtle. The cloning process was not originally one of the work, but the assassin had funded it and taken surprising interest in it once it was apparent that the clones wouldn't be fully grown adults.

Donatello had actually counted on it, he had the whole time known he could never fully recreate the cloning equipment from his days as an emperor. Neglecting to inform his employer that he hadn't actually invented all of it. However, he had been able to create enough so that the clones would be children, which was what he himself had wanted.

 _I do not regret what I did to the humans,_ he thought as he looked down at his clipboard. His smile dropped a bit. _But my brothers…_

 _I can't bring Mikey back but maybe helping raising those two will help with my redemption._ The olive green turtle looked up at the tubes, the smile returned.

"So," a chilly voice reached his ears. Donatello glanced over his shoulder; Leonardo was standing in the doorway. He was fully recovered from his injuries, aside of course the lack of left eye.

"Everything is proceeding as I anticipated," the olive green turtle stated and cringed slightly. It disturbed him a little bit that the assassin didn't cover the empty socket. He didn't close the left hole on his mask. Thus were the left eye should be was this black ominous hole.

"That's good." the assassin walked into the lab, followed by Demolisher Raphael who looked around with uninterested eyes. "How much is left?"

"The growth process is finished for the most part," Donatello started to explain and was careful not to talk with too much jargon. He knew all to well how his employer hated it. "I'm still installing into their minds the selected memories, so they won't be just overgrown infants, but essentially young children. They will know how to speak as well as a three year old and a five year old will. They will know how to walk and things like that."

"Good," Leonardo stopped in front of the tubes. He was frowning heavily.

"They will also not know that they are clone." Donatello stepped up beside the black-masked turtle, careful to be on the side that had an eye. "As far as they will be concerned, you rescued them off the street in some world."

"You can do that?" Raphael asked were he was in the back. Donatello glanced back at him.

"It's quite easy you know. The brain is essentially just one big recording device. It eats information. Since their mind will be so young, their memory isn't really fully flexed anyway. The 'younger' of the two will probably not remember a thing anyway and the 'older' will only have a vague memory of it," the ex-emperor told him before turning back to the tubes.

"Will they be able to start training?" Leonardo asked. The former overlord raised an eye-ridge and glanced at his employer.

"Um… well yeah physically I guess they could start some exercises, especially the 'older' one," he told him.

"I was two years old when my first exercises began, four when I began learning the real basics of martial arts," the assassin told him but never took his eye off the tubes.

"Then, yes they will be ready. Essentially, they will be just like any three and five year old. They will never know that they are actually much younger than that," Donatello said but then his brow sunk in a frown.

"These won't be robots you know. They will be independent living beings, with different personalities and everything. I can only program so much into their mind, give them selected memories and such, so even though they are clones they will still be just children," the olive green turtle told the assassin.

The black clad turtle turned his head to stare at him with his right eye. Ever since he lost an eye Leonardo had never lost that disturbing glint in the remaining one. A sneer formed for a moment on his beak but disappeared shortly after that.

"You sound caring suddenly," the assassin snorted. "Didn't you butcher your little brother?"

Donatello had no response to that and just looked away; he just about managed to hide how much those words had stung. The black-clad turtle turned his attention back to the tubes. His attention went to the vital sign screen, especially what it said on the top of it.

"Didn't there used to say 'M-Clone A' and 'M-Clone-B' there?" he asked and on his beak came a slight smirk. He glanced back at the former overlord.

"Wha?" the Demolisher pushed forward to look at the screen. His brow rose and the blood-red masked turtle as well looked at Donatello. The former overlord avoided all eye contact and stared at the floor.

"You named them already?" Raphael had to hold back a snorting laughter.

"Gee, almost sounds like you are getting a little attached there aren't you?" there was mock in the assassin's voice.

"It makes sense, they are going to be three and five year old, they will know what their names are," Donatello growled, though his argument was rather weak.

"But 'Silver' and 'Obsidian'? What kind of names are those?" the Demolisher asked confused, the olive-green turtle just sneered at him.

"I like them," the assassin said and looked back at the screens. "So who is who?"

"Silver is the older, Obsidian is the younger," Donatello muttered. The black clad turtle smirked and turned away from the tubes.

"Well enough small talk," he said and began walking away. "When exactly will they be ready?"

"No more than two months maybe even less," the former emperor said with a shrug.

"Good, we need to start preparing ourselves," the assassin said and stopped. "I have a feeling we will be off soon."

"You are sure of that," Donatello asked surprised.

"Indeed," Leonardo glanced back.

"So what is it exactly we are going to do?" the Demolisher asked. The former emperor sighed and shook his head. The assassin turned narrowing his remaining eye on the very dark green turtle.

"When Pretty Boy and his brothers attack the Technodrome, they will create a distraction. The diversion we need to sneak in and get to the main control room, where Krang will be," the assassin said.

"How can you be so sure that they will attack?" the blood-red masked one grunted.

"They got no choice, they know that the brain idiot is repairing it and will try to return to their world. They have always considered it their duty to stop Krang, they will not ignore this threat," Leonardo told him and now smirked deviously. "Don't you just love those honorable heroes? They are so predictable that you can almost write a diagram on what they will do."

"And what is it exactly what we are going to do there?" the blood-red masked turtle asked.

"Well we were skimped on the second payment for our part in making his enemies disappear so we are going to be helping ourselves to the technology that's in the Technodrome," Donatello now chimed in, as he was aware of this plan. "It's one of a kind; some of it will speed up a lot of my work."

"The rest will go for fortune on the black market and will make more than enough to cover what that idiot owes us," Leonardo added with an evil grin. "And we will definitely need your explosive expertise there."

"Now you're speaking my language," Demolisher Raphael smirked.

"Then let's go and prepare," the assassin said and began walking towards the exit. Raphael followed him immediately. The former overlord followed shortly after.

On his way out, the olive-green turtle halted and looked back. His eyes went on the stasis tubes. For a moment a smile crept over his beak, not a sadistic or a sinister one. It was warm and almost fatherly.

 _Soon my sons, you'll awaken,_ he thought before leaving the lab.

* * *

 **2k3 TMNT-world**

"So," Mikey was standing by the cradle, he was examining the bundle critically. Then he glanced at the turtle woman sitting beside it. "You actually… um you know…"

"Yes." Luna nodded and smiled.

"This big," the orange masked turtle looked at the blanket that wrapped around the white egg. The woman just nodded.

"But… it's almost the size of a basketball," the ninja said cringing. Luna giggled and gently caressed what was visible of the egg.

"The shell was much softer when it came out, then it hardened a little bit. Still it's leathery to the touch," she whispered and stared at the egg almost in a trance.

"It is like this Mikey dear," the older April said as she came walking into the living room. She put one hand on the blue-greenish turtle shoulder and looked down at the cradle.

"The egg shell is more of a protective membrane for the child during its final stage of development. Strictly speaking the child is actually ready to come out now, but it is advisable to let it hatch on its own," she told the ninja and gestured to the egg.

"Calling it an egg would actually be incorrect; it acts more as a pupa or chrysalis," the woman continued. "So that's why, the 'shell' for the egg is very soft when it's being laid, it actually envelopes around the child when the mother gives birth. Then once it's out, it bulges out and takes it more sphere-like form."

"Yeah, for few seconds I thought the egg would be in the shape of the child," Luna mentioned both she and April giggled. "But then it suddenly just blew out, until it took its present form."

"Indeed." April took a seat next to Luna who scooted a little closer to the couch arm. Mikey still stood by the cradle, trying to take in what he had been told.

"And when the kid comes out, there is going to be a lot of goop that comes out too, so we better be ready with towels and water. While preparing everything the egg actually produces it to protect the child while inside. It also serves as a bit of nourishment," the human woman continued to explain.

"And Emperor Donatello engineered this? All of it?" Luna looked at April stunned.

"Well not all of it, he did have help when he made this a part of the mutation process. But I have no doubt it was his idea, biology was a big field for him," she said and shrugged.

"Say, Mikey, I thought you always hung around your counterpart." April noticed that the blue-greenish one was all alone with them in the living room.

"Oh he and his bros went off together. High time they four did something together," the orange-clad turtle said grinning.

* * *

"Wow, this lake is beautiful," Leonardo commented once he and his brothers stepped out of the tree lines and were greeted by a large lake.

"Yeah, found it the first time I wandered around," Raphael said and looked around. Then he eyed his blue masked brother. "Though I didn't mention it. I was a little afraid you would start floating in it like in that pool in the lair."

"Um… yeah that." the L-clad one sighed and stepped a bit closer to the water. He looked down and was smiling solemnly now. "I did that… well… it kind of got rid of the feeling…"

"What feeling?" Donatello asked, he had just picked up a flat rock and was handling it in one hand.

"Being touched," his brother whispered. The other three turtles cringed realizing what he meant.

"Well um yeah… this lake looks great." The D-wearing turtle decided to quickly change the subject. He threw the rock, intending to skip it on the water surface. The rock went on and on, skipping on the surface. The purple-wearing ninja raised an eye-ridge when the stone ended up on the bank at the other end of the water.

"Um…" he said and scratched his head.

"Whoa, that has got to be a record," Michelangelo remarked and picked a stone himself and threw it. It skipped six times before sinking.

"What, only six?" Raphael grinned, got a stone and threw it. It didn't skip once. "Yeah, um six is good."

"Let me try," Leonardo retrieved a stone. He managed to make it skip eight times on the surface.

"Let's see now." Donatello got another stone and tried one more time. The stone skipped all the way to the other end of the lake.

"Whoa, I counted 24," the M-wearing turtle said.

"Gee, we got our very own turtacles." Raphael grinned and nudged the bigger turtle.

"That's Heracles or Hercules if you want to use the Roman version instead of the Greek," Donatello muttered and shook his head, he was still getting used to his newfound strength. His red-clad brother just shrugged.

"Sit down guys, we need to talk," Leonardo said as he was sitting down on the grass. Donatello sat down in front of him; Michelangelo sat on the right and Raphael on the left.

"So what's the haps, you have been thinking a lot lately," the M-wearing turtle remarked looking at his blue-masked sibling.

"Indeed I have been thinking," Leonardo's brow sunk in a heavy frown. "About the reason why we are here."

"Um… we are healing." Raphael shrugged. "After being abducted and brutally tortured by our counterparts, well except a Michelangelo counterpart since there was none."

"Yes, why where we abducted?" the L-wearing ninja asked looking at the red-masked one.

"Um, because this assassin creep was hired for it," the orange-clad turtle said.

"Who hired him?" Leonardo glanced at Michelangelo. Donatello snapped his fingers as it hit him. He didn't remember any of the tortures but he did remember the first moments as the assassin's prisoner.

"Krang, Krang hired the assassin to remove us out of the picture," he said, the L-wearing one nodded.

"Why did he hire him?" the blue-masked turtle asked. There was silence for now; it was slowly sinking into them.

"Krang is repairing the Technodrome." Donatello gulped. "It will take awhile, but we were supposed to be out of the way permanently so he probably doesn't care that much bout the time.

"Yes but he didn't count on one thing," Leonardo said and put a hand on Raphael's shoulder. "That one of us would escape and get help."

"Eh… it was nothing." The R-wearing turtle smiled uneasily and rubbed the back of his neck. His brother squeezed the shoulder gently before letting it go.

"I doubt that my assassin counterpart will go and warn Krang about it. It just doesn't seem to fit his personality, he's the type who gets the job done and takes the money and that's it. Not his problem if something goes wrong," Leonardo said and took a deep breath letting it out slowly. "The magistrate told me about that."

"So what do you want to do Leonardo?" Donatello asked though he was getting the idea. A very familiar determined glint was in his brother's eyes.

"We go to Dimension X and teach Krang and the Shredder a lesson. They will not get away with dishonoring us like that, by letting some lowlife assassin and bounty hunter almost rob us off our sanity," the blue-clad turtle said clenching one fist and shaking it.

"If we could trigger an explosion in the engines… it won't destroy the Technodrome but it could cause enough damage for it to be irreparable," Donatello said stroking his chin thoughtfully. "But it will be a difficult job, just the four of us."

"I did not intend it to be just the four of us," Leonardo said and a small smile came over his beak. "We are going to ask for help."

"From who?" Raphael frowned but it quickly disappeared when he saw what his brother meant. "Oh… them."

"I hate to ask them, they have already helped us so much. But if we are going to pull this off, we need help," the blue-masked claimed.

"Primo to the extremo dudes, let's just go and ask them then," Michelangelo cried and jumped to his feet, a wide grin on his beak. His brothers rose up as well.

"Then it is decided, we go ask them," Leonardo said and drew up one sword raising it high. His brothers did the same with their weapons, clanging them together in the air.

"TURTLE POWER!"

* * *

Everybody was very curious on what was going on. The letter-wearing turtles had all requested a meeting in the living room. However, they had been silent on what it was about. Luna sat in the couch close to the cradle. Beside her were the Ninja Master and Magistrate Raphael.

The two Splinters sat on the two recliners, the non-letter wearing ninjas sat on the floor in lotus position. The two Aprils pulled out chairs from the kitchen and sat on them. Little Michelle was in her mother's arms and was for once silent, watching what was going on. Casey sat on a nearby chair. The cyborg stood beside his sitting wife, Deputy Mike was sitting on the stairs that lead up to the attic.

The four letter wearing turtle stood now in the middle of this gathering, eyeing around to make sure everybody was here. Finally it was Leonardo who stepped forward, taking a short bow before the two old rats before continuing.

"My brothers and I can hardly express the gratitude we feel for all your help," he began. "You not only came to our aid and rescued us from that hell we were enduring for five months; you took care of our injuries, healed us and let us stay in your home. We thank you all for that, very much."

"My brothers and I are physically well now and our spirits are growing stronger by the minute, all thanks to you," the turtle continued so he could get quickly to the main point of this meeting.

"Even though it was the assassin who abducted us, had us tortured and beaten, we will not seek vengeance from him. I personally think that for the moment, he's far too powerful for that to happen… too powerful for me." Leonardo closed his eyes and shook his head. Then he opened them again and they narrowed. "But there are others. The reason why we were abducted, Krang and Shedder."

"As we speak they are repairing the Technodrome, a mobile fortress they have tried several times to use to take over our world. They still have a long way to go I understand, but I do not intend for them to even reach that point. My brothers and I have decided to go and disable those repairs once and for all," the L-wearing turtle said with a determined tone in his voice. Before he could continue, Leo rose up from the floor. For a brief moment they stared at each other in silence.

"We'll go with you," he said and turned slightly to look at his Splinter. "If that is all right with you sensei."

"I have no objections Leonardo," the old gray furred ninja master said with a nod. Leo turned back to face his L-wearing counterpart. His brothers rose up as well.

"We will help you," the basic green turtle told the letter wearing turtles.

"Thanks…" Leonardo said with a relived smile. "I wasn't sure how I was going to ask."

"Soooo," they heard the magistrate say and the attention was on the brown-shirt wearing turtle. He glanced at his dogi wearing brother.

"Should we let the kids have all the fun Don?" he asked casually and began examining his gloved right hand. His brother rubbed his chin thoughtfully with his only hand, then shrugged.

"I mean, it's been a while but still I don't see why we can't fight other enemies than Leo," the magistrate said and was grinning now. "I'll just get my butterfly swords and I guess Don and I are in as well."

"Me too," Deputy Mike shot in from the stairs.

Leonardo could hardly believe his ears. He had only intended to ask his non-letter wearing counterparts. He had never expected any more help than that. He looked at the magistrate who just nodded to him. The blue-clad turtle shot him a grateful smile, now the chances had turned even better.

"Mike, why don't you hop over and get my weapons since I didn't bring them here," Magistrate Raphael called to his grey-vest wearing brother. The deputy nodded and stood up, picking up his dimension traveler in the process. The turtle was soon gone through a portal.

"Hm, sounds like things could get interesting," the canned voice of Cyborg Raphael said. The attention turned to the large mechanical turtle, he grinned with the organic part of his face.

"I do believe I have nothing better to do at the moment, I think I'll come along as well," the large turtle said.

 _Twelve turtles? Not four, not eight, twelve._ Leonardo's jaw dropped. He had already gotten few small demonstrations on what the cyborg was capable of. The odds had just doubled if not tripled in their favor.

"Yo, you guys are not going anywhere without me. You already left me out enough," Casey Jones announced from his chair. Raphael was about to say something, but Leonardo stopped him.

"We could use all help available, we have seen him when tussling with the others, he can fight," the L-wearing turtle whispered to his brother.

"Well… that was unexpected but we appreciate it very much," he then told everybody.

However, Mikey seemed suddenly worried, he eyed were the Ninja Master sat. His attention on where the right hand should have been. The blue greenish turtle turned to face the dogi-clad turtle, scratching the back of his head and smiling uneasily.

"I was just wondering… you sure you want to go?" he asked. There was a stunned silence. For once Splinter didn't say anything, but his brow sunk.

"Um… I mean… you recently lost your hand… and um ah well…" Mikey realized that this question should probably have gone unasked. The magistrate was shaking his head, desperately trying to hold down laughter. Ninja Master Donatello didn't take his expressionless eyes off the younger turtle.

The black-wearing one stood up and approached the orange-masked one. Mikey gulped fearing he was in for it now. For a moment, all the dogi-wearing turtle did was staring at him. There was a long uncomfortable silence.

The attack happened so quickly that only the two old rats could probably register it. Suddenly the Ninja Master's left hand went for a Jo staff, it swung and Mikey didn't even have time to react. His legs were in the air and his carapace slammed to the floor. That was not all. Suddenly the butt end of the staff crashed into Raph who was thrown across the room. A black gloved hand grabbed Don's belt, the Jo staff temporarily kept under the right arm and the purple clad turtle was sent flying with a kick towards the fireplace. Leo saw the attack against him just a second too late, a foot landed on his plastron and the blue masked one was thrown to the floor.

A black clad food planted it self on Mikey's plastron and a Jo staff was aimed at his throat. Over him stood the Ninja Master, still expressionless and didn't show much that he had just defeated four turtles in few seconds.

"Ow… what gives," Raph groaned as Casey helped him stand up. "It was Mikey who asked."

"What better way to demonstrate that one is more than ready but attack several foes at once?" the grey furred Splinter remarked with a smile.

"What part of 'Ninja Master' in his title didn't you understand Mikey?" Leo grunted as he slowly rose to his feet.

"The 'Ninja' or the 'Master'?" Don asked dryly while rising up to his leg.

"Sorry." Mikey smiled nervously, the dogi-clad one stepped off him and offered him his hand to help him up.

"I want a rematch, I wasn't prepared so this wasn't fair," Raph snorted as he approached. The gray furred Splinter shook his head.

"Raphael, a ninja is always prepared or I haven't I been trying to teach that to you for the past seventeen years," he said with sigh.

The Ninja Master just shrugged and gestured to the front door. Indicating to Raph that he had accepted the rematch and they would do it outside. As the two walked out, everybody followed, not going to miss this one by the long shot.

 **End chapter 17**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 23/07 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 18**

 **TMNT-world**

There was a heavy uncomfortable silence by the kitchen table. Both Raph and his R-wearing counterpart sat by it. The non-letter wearing turtle was gingerly rubbing his head. It had been a while but it still hurt.

"I guess that's why they call him Ninja Master Donatello," Raphael muttered, his very dark green counterpart just growled something.

"Yo dudes, where are the Donatellos?" Michelangelo peeked into the kitchen. His R-clad brother took a sip from his mug before looking at him.

"In the barn, cooking something up for our assault on the Technodrome. The cyborg is helping them I think," he answered..

"And the Leos are with the magistrate, planning it up in the attic," the non-letter wearing turtle grunted.

"Aw, the TV isn't working," the M-clad turtle said.

"What?!" Raphael gasped. "Somebody call the president, this in an emergency!"

"Ha, ha very funny Raphael," his brother snorted. For once Raph was actually chuckling at his counterpart's joke.

"You can always join Raph, Casey and me, we're going to play a little poker," the R-wearing one offered his brother.

"Yeah, whenever Case comes with the snacks," the other red clad turtle grunted and sat up more straight on the chair. He then glanced at the M-wearing turtle. "Tell Mikey to get his sorry tail in here. The more in the game the better."

"Um ok." Michelangelo shrugged and disappeared out of the doorway.

"You know, it's kind of weird to be waiting until we go. Usually we just go once we know where we are going," Raphael said and leaned a bit in his chair.

"I would like nothing more than just go right now," Raph growled but shrugged. "But, they want to go prepared."

"Just hope they don't blow up the barn," the R-clad one chuckled. Just at that moment Mike and Michelangelo came in, followed shortly later by Casey holding a bag.

"About time," the very dark green turtle snorted at his human friend.

"Hey, in case you had forgotten, we are a little out of the way here," the man defended his lateness as he put the bag on the table.

* * *

"Ok so basically, the main control room is near the top and the engines are somewhere deep in the back," Leo inquired for clarification. He looked at his L-wearing counterpart.

"Should be, the Technodrome is large and it's easy to get lost," Leonardo said with a sigh.

The two Leonardos, both Splinters and Magistrate Raphael were up in the attic. So far Leonardo had been telling them all he could about the Technodrome, his version of Shredder and Krang.

"Donatello has suggested that we cause the engines to explode, causing enough damage for everything to be irreparable. We thought we did it last time but apparently, Krang has found a way to fix them. But hopefully this time, we cause more damage." The L-wearing turtle shrugged.

"They would need time to do anything and couldn't probably be disturbed too much, so diversion?" Leo looked at his counterpart and then at the magistrate. Both shrugged so the turtle glanced at the two old rats who sat nearby in lotus positions.

"That would be the wisest course of action," the gray furred Splinter said.

"So nine of us would just randomly attack, while the Donatellos plus somebody else to guard their back go for the engines?" the magistrate wondered.

"Maybe not too randomly, make it look like we are heading somewhere specific, like the main control room," Leo suggested.

"What about splitting up?" Leonardo said scratching his head nervously. "The main engines can't be operational already, I recall Raphael blowing them up pretty bad. That means most of the death traps won't be operational. Krang will relay on his Rock soldiers and the robotic Foot soldiers."

"Wait robotic?" His non-letter wearing counterpart frowned. The L-clad one nodded.

"At one point don't know when, Shredder replaced all his Foot soldiers for robots. They are all mindless robots, easy to destroy, the Rock soldiers are the toughest ones," Leonardo explained.

"Still, that will ease things a little bit I think," Leo muttered.

"Shall we say, the Raphaels, the Michelangelos, the Donatellos, the Leonardos," something like that?" the magistrate wondered.

"Splitting up would mean they would have to focus on many targets at once, it could possibly confuse them," Leo said and glanced at his L-wearing counterpart who nodded.

"Likely, they can't be far enough in the repairs to have all the surveillance gear up," Leonardo said.

"Ok, we'll cast a vote on it when we are all gathered and ready to go. If the majority think it is a bad idea, we will only split into two groups, one to head for the engines the others to pretend going for the main control room," the non-letter wearing turtle said.

"Then I guess there is nothing much left but to wait for the Donatellos to be ready," the magistrate said.

* * *

 **Assassin's world**

"Ok I'm not complaining," Demolisher Raphael clarified as he was cleaning one of his many handguns. He and the assassin were in the training room, the black clad turtle was examining his rifle.

"But haven't these plans lately been overly complicated?" the blood-red masked reptile asked glancing at his employer. Leonardo glared at him with his right eye but didn't say anything.

"I mean, we spent five months mentally disturbing those four turtles. Lots of fun by the way, then throw them pretty much into the arms of their rescuers. Then we are depending on them to attack as a distraction, a very large fortress so we can gain access and take it over." The demolisher began assembling the gun again. Still no response came from the assassin.

"And on a side note we also took your brother, that magistrate fellow captive to get some access codes out of him for some locked dimensions. These codes apparently have nothing to do with what we are doing now," Raphael continued, checked the gun over before holstering it. Then he began inspecting another gun. Glancing at the black masked one, the demolisher noticed that Leonardo wasn't about to comment.

"On top of that are those clones, ok I got the fortress take over part and I can understand getting some codes for forbidden worlds. But what is the deal with the clones?" he asked.

"Eh, the cloning was just 'his majesty's' side project that I allowed him to do while working on other things for me. He wanted to see if he actually could recreate it so I gave him some money and equipment to try," Leonardo finally growled and aimed with his rifle at a distant target. He didn't fire and instead put the rifle down and then holstered on his back.

"Quite honestly I didn't expect him to be able to do anything," the turtle snorted and rose up from his chair. He glanced at were Raphael sat and eyed the gun, then held out his hand. The Demolisher caught the hint and threw the weapon to the assassin.

"However when he said he could do it, albeit only by making them as children it got me thinking," the black clad turtle examined the gun and then quickly aimed it at a distant target. This time he did fire and struck the bull's-eye on the target.

"Donny could actually have killed me back there. He only took out my eye and I repaid the favor by removing his hand. But if I die, everything I own will go straight to my closest relatives," the turtle snorted and examined the gun again. "Sure I could probably write up a will that prevents that but I wouldn't be surprised if Raph can somehow contest it."

"However… if I had children, heirs. Someone I actually want to inherit my wealth, everything would go to them and my stupid brothers wouldn't see a dime legally," Leonardo grunted.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to just find some broad and knock her up then?" Raphael snorted and caught the gun when it was thrown back to him.

"Tried that, she backstabbed me and now lives with my brother." The assassin sneered as he remembered Luna. "No I'm done with relationships. I'll train the clones and raise them as my own; they will inherit my wealth and my legacy."

"Seems that brain boy has beaten you to the parent thing, he's named them and everything," the Demolisher snorted.

"That's ok." The assassin smirked and folded his arms. "Need a babysitter anyway and I need Tony for other duties."

They both eyed the doorway when it opened and the former emperor entered. The olive-green turtle hardly hesitated and walked straight towards the two turtles. He had dropped the lab coat now and was wearing a black shirt, pants and boots.

"You two realize that when it comes to hand to hand fighting, I got absolutely no skills at all," the ex-emperor said as he approached them.

"I am well aware of that," the assassin told him. "Don't worry; we'll be right there with you."

"I was actually going to request for a gun again," Donatello grunted and held out his right hand. "Just in case."

"Here, use this." The Demolisher picked up a handgun from his belt and threw it to the olive green turtle. The former overlord caught it and began checking it, before holstering it on the belt around his waist.

"Guess we are all ready then, just waiting until we get the signal," the assassin remarked and sat down again. He regarded the ex-emperor for a moment who was turning around to head back out o the room.

"I take it that the clothes are good enough for you," the black masked turtle said, referring to what the olive-green turtle was wearing.

"They are," Donatello answered without glancing back and continued to walk towards the exit.

"Where did he get those duds?" the demolisher asked, remembering seeing the former overlord last time in a lab coat.

"Sent a request for him for clothes to the tailor that does mine," Leonardo told him and gestured to his own clothes. "Apparently, he was getting a little tired of the lab coat."

"Meh," Raphael shrugged and glanced at an imaginary watch on his wrist. "Enough time for one beer?"

"Probably two, I hope Tony remembered to stock," the assassin said and they both stood up and left the training room. "What am I saying; if Tony forgets anything I'll actually be worried."

* * *

 **2k3 TMNT-World**

"Uh huh, I was just walking or more like hurrying home, hoping not to attract too much attention. Then suddenly these two gray uniformed soldiers appear in front of me and dragged me into a car," the older April explained. She was telling her younger counterpart and Luna how she had met the emperor.

"I was taken to the palace and there promptly informed that I was to be the emperor's wife. Naturally, I had no say in it; they dragged me into a lab and a chip was crafted in me. It was not strictly speaking a mind control chip, but it did hurt me if I resisted him." She sighed and shook her head.

The three women all sat in the couch. Luna was as usual by the end were the cradle was. The younger April sat at the other end and the older one was in the middle. Michelle played on the floor; some toys had been discovered and brought to the child. She was now busy wrestling with a worn out teddy bear.

"Quite honestly though, the worst part was that I was being used to fool everyone. Our 'union' was supposed to show that the Emperor was tolerant of humans and wished us all to live in harmony by showing that even he was willing to marry one. It unfortunately did work on some, who were fooled into being shipped to the mutation labs thinking they were actually getting work in the empire," the former empress continued. The younger women cringed a bit when hearing that.

Deputy Michelangelo was as well in the living room. He stood by the window staring outside. He had refused to join the poker game in the kitchen, didn't think he would be very useful in the planning and had no desire to go to the barn. Thus the turtle was just there, staring out making no comments or showing no signs he was listening.

"I'm not entirely sure how Michelle was conceived," Michelle's mother said as she glanced at her daughter. "You see, I have few blank spots in my memory from that time. Sometimes I suspect I was drugged up and even experimented on. We have suspected that I was just a carrier, especially because Michelle appears perfectly as a turtle. But in the end Raphael and I decided we didn't care and didn't have it tested."

Neither of the human women noticed that Luna had tensed slightly when that part of the subject came up. The turtle didn't say anything, just relaxed quickly and nodded. Then she began busying herself with shifting the egg a little in the cradle.

The younger April shifted her gaze for a moment at the turtle by the window. She had to admit it was uncanny to see a serious looking Michelangelo. Sure Mikey the woman knew could have his brief serious moments, but a smile usually always followed quickly. He was also seldom quiet, unless watching something on TV or reading a comic. The teen was extremely social, never missing any chance to take part in any activity. The Deputy had refused to join a poker game, participate in the planning upstairs and helping in the barn. He chose instead to stand there alone by the window.

 _Solitary Mikey, now that is a strange concept,_ she thought and recalled when the magistrate told her how much he wished this Michelangelo would pull a prank.

"Is he…" April eyed Luna and hesitated, wondering if she really should ask while he was in the same room.

"Is he always like that?" she asked in a very low voice. Her older counterpart glanced now at the deputy who didn't appear to have heard the question. Luna as well looked at Michelangelo before turning to the younger April.

"Sometimes yes," she answered in equally low voice. April nodded and was about to say something but then suddenly stopped. First now the woman noticed that the turtle was wearing a long white dress with short sleeves.

"Ok, am I being especially slow today? I am first now noticing that you are wearing something," she remarked with a chuckle. All three women burst into laughter.

Now first did the deputy glance back, wondering what had the three ladies in hysterics. As soon as he heard the discussion was clothes he returned his attention to the window. Yet for a moment, he glanced down at his own set. The shorts were still mostly silver in color but they were becoming a bit worn and the color was almost turning very light gray. The vest had originally been much darker shade of gray but was now a bit lighter.

He of course had more sets back home, but the one he was in currently was his first. The one he had acquired about ten years ago. The only thing he had no spare for was the belt; it was exactly the same one and he had used for a very long time.

"Michelle," he heard whispered sharply. The caused him to look back and noticed all three women on the couch staring warily at him. Then the turtle looked down, right beside him now stood the little turtle girl. Clutching that worn stuffed bear and staring up at him with those big wide eyes. Michelle was wearing blue overalls, specifically made to fit a tiny turtle body. She had so far not managed to dirty these clothes yet.

"M…Mik…Mike," the little girl managed to say before pointing at the deputy.

"Yeah that's right," he said and crouched down, staring attentively at Michelle.

"Cool," Michelle said and smiled. Deputy Michelangelo raised an eye ridge and then glanced at the couch. The three women there all just shrugged, the mother chuckling and the other two smiling.

"So you think I'm cool huh?" The vest-wearing turtle glanced at the little girl again.

"Hell yeah," Michelle then said with a wide smile causing a stunned silence.

"Where did she learn that?" the older April said after a moment.

"RAPHAEL!" her younger counterpart suddenly yelled, jumped out of the couch and ran for the kitchen.

"Which one was she referring to?" Luna wondered.

"Probably the one she knows," the deputy suggested with a shrug. Michelle looked around confused and startled the sudden outburst from her mother's counterpart.

"Come here sweetie." The girl's mother held out her hands towards the girl. Michelle immediately ran to her and was picked up. The young turtle curled up in her mother's arms still looking a little confused.

"It's ok, you didn't do anything wrong dear," the older April said soothingly to her daughter, patting her on the carapace.

From the kitchen they could hear a yelp. The younger human woman then returned muttering something before sitting down in the couch. All eyes were now on her, waiting for an explanation.

"You can thank Uncle Raph for Michelle's newest word, apparently it escaped from his beak at one point when watching her back in the lair," she finally explained.

"I take it was him who yelped there earlier?" her older counterpart inquired.

"Oh no, that was Mikey, he made a comment and Raph slapped him on the head," the younger April said and shook her head with a smile.

It was then that from the attic, the Leonardos, Magistrate Raphael and the Splinters emerged. Deputy Michelangelo immediately rose up and approached them. It was clear on their appearance that a decision had been made.

"The moment the Donatellos are ready, we are leaving," the magistrate told his brother. The Leonardos both disappeared into the kitchen, while the Splinters got seated in the living room.

"Do we know where this Dimension X is?" the deputy wondered as he and the magistrate walked to the front door but stopped there.

"I think Don was going to work with the D-clad one on that," Magistrate Raphael said.

* * *

 **Dimension X**

The black portal opened in a barren landscape. Out of it hurried a whole group of turtles plus a single human. All began looking around while the portal closed behind them.

"Looks like we didn't land anywhere near our target." Donatello sighed and began working on a scanner in his hand. All eyes were on the D-wearing turtle while he worked. "Feared as much, it's been a while since we were here the last time. Things have probably changed a bit."

"Well we won't find it standing here, let's get moving," Leo said sharply as he eyed around.

"Ok this area looks familiar." the D-clad one looked up from the scanner; he pointed at a cliff that was in the short distance.

"I'm pretty sure this is the cliff were we faced the Technodrome the last time. It's not unfeasible that Krang had it moved for the repairs. But they wouldn't have been able to move it far though," he said and began walking towards the cliff.

"So why are we moving towards the cliff?" Mikey asked and scratched his head confused.

"The Technodrome moves on gigantic version of tank tracks, plus it's very heavy, if Krang moved the drome then we can follow using the tracks," the D-wearing turtle explained.

Nobody made any comment and everybody followed the all purple clad turtle's lead. When they arrived at the cliff, they saw that something huge had once been there. As well there were crushed remains of some form of a plant. The group ignored it, not feeling it very important.

"So um where are those tracks?" Casey asked scratching his head. The D-clad turtle looked around wondering the same thing, he then blinked as the ninja realized and eyed down.

"We're standing in them," he said and everybody quickly left the unusual dent that they had been standing in. They could now see a trail that could only have been made by a gigantic tank.

"By the looks of these tracks," Don muttered as he crouched down examining the tracks. His D-wearing counterpart and the Dogi wearing one both stood beside him.

"He went in this direction and probably for that hill," the non-letter wearing one claimed and rose up.

"Great, let's go then, onward turtles." Leonardo used on katana to point in the direction his brother's counterpart had pointed in but then hesitated and looked at Casey. "And human."

Nobody made a comment on the L-clad ones words and the group moved in the direction the tracks led. Leo and Leonardo were in the lead, followed closely by Don and Donatello. The Ninja Master, the deputy and the magistrate were in the middle closely followed by Mikey and Michelangelo. Raph and Raphael were in the rear with Casey and the cyborg.

The cyborg with his advanced eyesight was the first to spot something as they advanced up the hill. For a moment the others hadn't paid too much attention to it but then they did. Everybody froze at the sight.

There on the top it was a gigantic semi-sphere like fortress on mobile tank tracks and a giant sensor on top of it in the form of a large eyeball. Various cannons were mounted on it as well. Yet even for its impressive size and apparent heavy artillery, it looked to have seen better days. The hull was cracked and some of the cannons were obviously damaged.

For a moment eight of the turtles and one human stared in shock at the behemoth on the hill. Then all eyes were on the letter wearing turtles who were probably the only ones not too surprised at the sight.

"You said you… um had to deal with that thing, regularly?" Don inquired pointing at the Technodrome and looked at his D-wearing counterpart.

"Well not regularly, but occasionally yeah and stop them from powering it again," Donatello shrugged.

"Sometimes felt like a weekly event." Raphael sighed from the back.

"All right, enough chattering, let's get this over with." Leo frowned and the group began approaching carefully. Fortunately the sensor eye was not facing them so they probably did approach for the most part unnoticed.

"Hm, I see few movements around it," the cyborg said. "Looks like some people in strange purple suits and creatures made of rock… Wait my sensors tell me these purple suited guys are robots."

"Yeah Foot soldiers and Rock soldiers," Leonardo explained. "The Rock soldiers are the toughest to beat; the Foot soldier robots are pretty easy."

"So how will we get in," Mikey asked rather dismayed at the sight of the huge fortress, with no obvious visible entrance.

But the response came in form of an action. The Ninja Master suddenly whipped out what looked like three black surikens. Swiftly he threw all of them towards the hull of the drome.

"We used one of Donatello's designs," Don said patting the D-clad turtle on the shoulder. "It should breach the hull easily enough."

At that moment a huge explosion erupted from the hull, throwing soldiers of both Foot and Rock variety around.

Meanwhile inside the Technodrome, high in the main control room a large robotic body stumbled towards a control panel. Inside the middle, controlling the body was the sentient brain warlord Krang. The evil alien was looking very distressed.

"What is going on out there," he growled and had his body punch few buttons to get the flickering screen online.

His squishy pink face fell when seeing what was happening outside. He didn't see four turtles; he saw twelve turtles plus a human attacking the soldiers outside as they made their way towards a large opening on the Technodrome.

"SHREDDER!" Krang yelled. "WE ARE UNDER ATTACK."

"Like four turtles weren't bad enough, now they are twelve?" the alien growled as he quickly turned the robotic body around to face the entrance of the room. "Shredder where are you!"

"The damn turtles are attacking and they have somehow multiplied! SHREDDER."

 **End chapter 18**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 25/07 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 19**

 **Dimension X**

"Ok guys, you know the plan," Leo said as a Foot soldier was cut into bits by the katana. The group was closing in on the large opening the Ninja Master created.

"The Donatellos plus the cyborg will head for the main engines. The rest of us split into three groups, Raphaels, Michelangelos and Leonardos, Casey you'll come with me and Leo," Leonardo explained when the final Rock Soldier grumbled to dust, they had now slight breathing space.

"Right, we'll cause a diversion for you guys." Raph grinned evilly before he, his R-wearing counterpart and the magistrate ran inside. They were followed soon after by the orange wearing group but once in went into another direction.

The Donatellos and Cyborg Raphael then went inside and immediately headed into a certain direction; the D-clad one was sure it was the one to the engines. Finally, the two Leonardos plus Casey entered and headed up a corridor.

"Ok, let's try to make it look like we are heading towards the main control room," Leo said while disarming a Foot soldier and plunged his katana into the robotic guts.

"These Foot goons are wimps," Casey complained as he beheaded a soldier with his hockey stick.

"They are unusually slow now; guess they don't have too much material now to make them." Leonardo observed as he did a roundhouse kick, flinging a soldier to a wall. Then the three faced few Rock soldiers.

"Now that's more like it," Casey cackled when the much tougher enemies appeared.

Leo chuckled at how similar Casey and Raph could be, both more than eager to fight. Then his attention was brought to his L-wearing counterpart. The non-letter wearing turtle frowned; there was definitely hesitation in Leonardo's movements. Was he perhaps not as ready as he claimed to be?

Suddenly the L-wearing turtle froze for a moment, long enough to almost be punched in the head by a big Rock soldier. Leo saw the danger in time and charged, ramming himself at the creature. The soldier was thrown at a wall, hard enough that he did not rise up again.

"Casey! Cover us," Leo shouted before he pushed his counterpart up against the wall.

"Pretend you're injured, just in case somebody is watching," the non-letter wearing one whispered. Then he had Leonardo sit down and he himself crouched in front of him.

"What's wrong, what happened?" Leo asked quickly, eyeing the battle for a moment. So far they had managed to dispose of most of the Rock soldiers so now there were just few Foot robots. Casey was handling them easily.

"I…I… I saw him… I…" Leonardo's breathing accelerated and the turtle was trembling.

"What?" the basic green turtle frowned in worry, he doubted that the letter wearing turtle's usual enemies could cause him to panic like this. He had to mean the assassin.

"Not like that… sorry… but sometimes, I just see him… flashbacks… sorry." The dark green ninja cringed and tried to rise up again. "I thought I was ready."

"Look, you are ready," Leo said as he helped his counterpart to rise. "It's ok; we'll try to take a different route. Try to avoid the battles unless necessary."

"There is a ventilation shaft up there," Leonardo pointed up at the ceiling. "We could probably reach higher levels quickly with that one."

"Right. Casey, prepare to move," Leo called at the human who was having a bit too much fun smashing the robots.

* * *

CRASH

The three turtles stared at the former steel door on the floor and then at the cyborg that had just finished smashing it down.

"So much for subtle," Don muttered. Raphael looked down at him with a grin on the organic part of his face.

"Hey you wanted to enter this room," he said and then walked inside. The mechanical turtle was greeted by many laser blasts that bounced off his plastron.

"Sorry guys, heat resistant armor." The large turtle grinned at the Rock and Foot soldiers trying to shoot him down. Then the right hand sunk into the arm and his very own laser gun barrel came out.

"Leave somebody for us," Donatello remarked as he and his counterparts carefully made their way in, avoiding the laser beams flying around. The cyborg was though effectively decreasing the number of soldiers firing. Some of the Rock soldiers were now fleeing for cover while the robots tried to press on.

"All right pummeling time," Raphael said and his gun barrel sunk back into the arm and replaced with the hand. "Better not waste all my laser charges on these light weights."

Then with a mechanical roar the large turtle charged towards the soldiers, his heavy metal hands smashing anybody unlucky enough to be in his way. The three other turtles just stood and stared. Don cringed when seeing how easily the cyborg ripped apart a Foot soldier robot.

 _That was almost me two years ago,_ the non-letter wearing turtle thought and grimaced.

"Ok, so are we going to be allowed to fight at all?" Donatello asked folding his arms.

"I think so," his olive green counterpart said and grabbed his Bo staff. Few foot soldiers had escaped around the cyborg and were headed their way.

The Ninja Master grabbed a Jo and the D-clad one went for his own staff. The three turtles quickly disposed of the incoming soldiers easily. Then they noticed the room was empty safe for them. The cyborg had either destroyed or scared everybody else off.

"All right let's find these engines," Donatello said as he and his counterparts approached the cyborg.

"Chickens and they call themselves mechanical," Raphael snorted but there was a huge grin on his organic mouth.

* * *

"Ok, even Stockman's mousers put up more fight than these bolt buckets," Raph growled as a Foot soldier robot was ripped apart with this sai.

"I gotta agree, not sure what tin-grin was thinking when he made these," his R-wearing counterpart shot in as he threw himself at a soldier, grabbed his uniform and then threw the robot away. It was hacked to pieces by the magistrate's butterfly swords.

Magistrate Raphael didn't offer his say in this. He had to admit having expected a tougher fight. The Rock soldiers came rather close to what he was hoping for, but once these guys had been disarmed they weren't real fighters. As he was slicing another robot apart, he noticed a sign saying "research facility" and an arrow pointing in a direction.

"Guys, I think I have a target for us, just in case our movements are being monitored," he called to the others.

"Really?" Raph grunted as he kicked down a Foot soldier.

"Yes, the research facility. Let them think that's our destination," the magistrate said and began making his way the arrow pointed in.

"Sounds like an idea to me," Raphael commented as he quickly disposed of another robot soldier.

"And once we reach that destination?" Raph growled.

"We'll worry about that when we get there," the magistrate said and hacked at a robot with his swords.

They continued to fight they way down the corridor. So far they had only met Foot soldiers but that couldn't last for long. However, all of them agreed that even the Rock soldiers didn't change the fight much.

* * *

"Special delivery," Michelangelo shouted as he spun a robot and threw it across the corridor. Mikey caught it with his nunchaku and made the soldier crash on the floor.

"This one was a little damaged in delivery, but it will do as a floor mat," the blue-greenish ninja chuckled.

 _Oh for the love of…_ The deputy gritted his teeth. He had so far had to endure countless cheesy delivery jokes between the two younger turtles. It was really grating at his nerves.

The gray vest wearing turtle landed on his carapace, shot his legs upwards and grabbed a strangle hold on a robot with them. Then he slammed soldier to the floor so hard that the head smashed. The turtle flipped up to standing position, whipped up his chucks, twirled them before hammering them in two more robots.

"Air package!" Mikey yelled as he swiftly kicked a robot over himself.

"Hey I signed a land route," Michelangelo pretended to complain as he stepped aside to allow the soldier to crash on the floor. Then he swiftly delivered the final kick before focusing on another soldier.

"Heads up, we are getting those Rock people or whatever you call them," the deputy shouted.

Ducking the lasers was easy and all three turtles had agility on their side, even Deputy Michelangelo. Because of that the much slower Rock soldiers weren't very efficient fighters against the speedy turtles. They had the strength though and one hit from their hard fists did hurt.

"WOAH!" Michelangelo was actually punched in the plastron and was thrown across the corridor.

"Turtles are land animals you know, well water and land," Mikey called after his airborne counterpart. He then used his chucks to smash at the same soldier who had hit the M-wearing turtle, effectively knocking him out of commission.

"I'll try and remember that compadre," the dark green ninja said as he ran back to the battle.

 _Will you two shut up!_ The deputy rolled his eyes and managed to dispose of the last Rock soldier for now. More Foot robots were arriving.

"Hey deputy, think fast," Mikey shouted and threw one robot towards this oldest counterpart.

The deputy used his chucks to catch the robot, spun with it before throwing it at three soldiers that were arriving. He then jump and kicked another one that was preparing to shoot with a laser rifle.

"COWABUNGA!" Michelangelo yelled as he sailed across spinning his nunchaku madly, slaying two robots as he came crushing down.

"Ok it's been easy so far, when do we get to the real battle?" Mikey asked with a chuckle.

"Don't jinx it," the deputy growled while he smashed the head of a foot soldier with a hard punch.

"I hate to tell your this amigo, but these are the toughest Shredder and Krang can send at us," Michelangelo told them as they now could run up the corridor, having for now defeated their opponents.

"Unless they send Bebob and Rocksteady at us, but even they are probably not that much of a challenge," he then added.

"Bebob and Rocksteady?" the deputy glanced at his M-wearing counterpart.

"Yeah, a mutant warthog and a mutant rhino, Shredder's henchmutants," Michelangelo explained. "They are not very bright but they are very strong."

* * *

 **2k3 TMNT-world**

"Are you nervous?"

Luna looked up. She had been admiring her egg, occasionally caressing the blanket, shifting it a little from time to time. The one addressing her was the older April, Michelle's mother. She had just arrived from the kitchen holding two cups of tea; the human gave the turtle the other one. Then April sat down beside Luna.

They were alone in the living room, the Splinters had gone out for a walk and the younger April was upstairs taking a sort nap.

"A little," the turtle admitted and sipped on her cup. She glanced at the egg and smiled nervously. "I just never pictured myself as a mother."

"One really never does," April said. "I was shocked to learn I was pregnant with Michelle. I was mortally afraid I would never be a good mother. But it seems that the little girl had convinced me otherwise."

They both eyed the floor, Michelle was there playing with all the toys that had been found for her. The girl was very busy trying build with few blocks, but she improvised by using other non-block toys. She even tried to place a small stuffed animal there in-between.

"You really confused me back when I was the assassin's prisoner, I wasn't sure at a time if I should hate or pity you," April then mentioned and smiled.

"It was a confusing time," Luna whispered and glanced carefully at the woman. "If… if it is any consolation for the most part, Michelle was safe. Even when she was with, you know the emperor."

"Hm? Yes that is small comfort, though the same couldn't be said about the assassin," the human woman sighed and shook her head. "Well let's not talk about that, it's just depressing."

"Yeah it is." The turtle nodded and once more focused her attention on the egg.

"You look a little worried," April noted, staring at Luna now more attentively.

"That's because I am worried," the turtle woman whispered. She glanced at the human and cringing a bit.

"You see… chances are that… there is a big chance that the assassin is the father," she confessed and put the cup away on the coffee table. The woman then put her arms around herself. "I'm hoping that the hatchling will be olive green, that way I have less to worry. But… if he's basic green…"

"Even though the young will be olive green the assassin could still be the father, that only means the child inherited your scale color," April told her.

"I know, I know," Luna nodded. "But at least it won't be as obvious then."

"Ok whoever the biological father is, that doesn't matter. You can be just as good parent anyway and I'm sure your Donatello will not dismiss the child even if it isn't biologically his," the human told the turtle and patted her reassuringly on the shoulder.

 _I hope so,_ Luna thought and gently caressed the blanket around the egg.

* * *

 **Dimension X**

"How far away do you think it is to the main control room?" Leo asked as they carefully made their way down the silent corridor. So far they hadn't met anybody.

"It's very high up, I think we are still on the lower levels," Leonardo whispered back.

"We haven't met a single person or robot for hours now," Casey complained, you would have thought in a place this big there would be more people to fight.

"It's possible that Krang is concentrating the force on the more vital areas and thus some are empty," the L-wearing turtle suggested.

"Quite possible in fact, especially if this place is as run down as you described," Leo agreed.

They continued onward, there wasn't much light safe for some emergency lights on the ceilings. Apparently Krang was saving power in the fortress, diverting most of it to other areas. Some monitor screens seemed to be online though.

"This place is in a sorrier state since last time," Leonardo muttered with a slight hint of grin on his face. "Usually we would be face first in various robot monstrosities or Foot soldiers by now."

"I'm no expert, but I think it will take longer than two years to fix this place up," his basic green counterpart muttered.

"I agree, maybe Krang was just trying to make us feel worse, that's his style," Leonardo nodded. The three continued further down, passing many open doors leading to dead ends.

"Of course I wasn't exactly in any state to listen to him at that time," the L-wearing turtle then added. Leo stopped for a moment to look at him; he patted his counterpart on the shoulder.

"You know, I was almost in a similar situation and you," he told him. "Roughly two years ago, I was ambushed by the Foot, nearly killed. At a time I wasn't sure if I could fight again or face my enemies. But overcame it eventually, it's hard but possible."

"Hey guys, I think I found something," Casey called to them; he was standing by what looked like computer console and was staring at one of the screens. The two turtles approached and looked at the monitor. It actually seemed to display a map.

"Ok, now I wish one of the Donatello was with us," Leo muttered and tried to push a button, suddenly they were greeted with a blue screen with many white lines. And what looked like three blinking red dots huddled together.

"It is a map, and looks like our location," Leonardo pointed at a text at the top of the screen.

"Corridor H-45." Leo frowned. He then traced one of the white lines few centimeters ahead of the blinking dots. "This looks like an elevator shaft, we could use it to get higher."

"Right, let's go then," Casey said and immediately headed in the direction the map indicated.

"Casey, remember we are only making it look like our destination is the main control room," Leo reminded the human.

"Then let's make it look like we are heading for the elevator shaft," Casey shot in and continued onward. The two turtles shook their heads and followed.

* * *

"Ok if we go by this map, we are only few rooms away from the main engines," Donatello said as he leaned over the computer screen. They had found a working console and the D-wearing turtle had began working on it to get a map.

"Ok, our path should be straightforward then," Don nodded and glanced back. The cyborg was busy with the Ninja Master keeping the soldiers away from them.

"Hey guys we need to move on," the non-letter wearing turtle said as he ran towards the ongoing battle.

"Right," the cyborg said as he smashed a Rock soldier. The Ninja Master beheaded a Foot robot with his Jo. The four turtles then continued onward.

"You know, I recall these Rock soldiers being tougher," Donatello grunted as he managed to punch down a fairly large opponent. Then his Bo staff was used to trip another one.

"Somebody is forgetting that he's a little bit stronger now isn't he," Don chuckled and threw a robot towards the cyborg that slammed it with his fist. The soldier was thrown across the room and smashed on the distant wall.

"Oh yeah," the D-wearing turtle realized and then finished a robot with this Bo staff.

"Hey Raphael, how are you holding up?" the non-letter wearing turtle called to the mechanical one.

"Still plenty of energy left, don't worry and if I need it. I can steal it from this oversized tank," the cyborg responded as he charged through few Rock soldiers who desperately tried to shoot him down with their laser rifles.

 _This is too easy,_ the Ninja Master thought while they made their way to the next room.

* * *

"Shredder, we can't monitor all the movements. They split into four different groups!" Krang shouted over the communicator as he had the robot body stumble to a control panel.

"Who can we monitor?" the rough voice of his human accomplice growled through the speaker.

"Only two of them," the brain alien grunted, he had finally managed to bring the view-screen back online. It showed few blinking dots.

"One is heading towards the research facility and the other is heading apparently to the armory," Krang snorted and tried to push few buttons but nothing happened. Frustrated the alien had the robot body hammer the fists on the panel.

"We'll send more Foot soldiers there then," Shredder grunted.

"The armory is empty anyway, let them go on a wild goose chase there, we have to protect the main engines and the research facility. There is also possible that one group is heading here," the evil warlord said.

"Bebob and Rocksteady are with me, we'll make sure nobody gets to the main control room. I'm sending more troops to the main engine room and the research facility," the human grunted.

"Make sure you do, we still haven't managed to get the engines online but they are at a too critical stage to be tampered with now," Krang said and moved the robot body to another control panel.

"Damn I shouldn't have trusted that blasted turtle, Leonardo," he growled.

"That's what I said," Shredder reminded him. The evil brain growled and snarled at being reminded of that.

"The only good turtle is a dead turtle, he had better not show himself here again," the human snorted.

Krang didn't respond to that as he was trying to bring the other control panel alive. It had been just too tempting to get rid of the turtles with the way the assassin had offered. To temping to resist.

"Krang you think we need…" Shredder was suddenly unexpectedly cut off. Krang frowned, that was not usual, especially without any shouts and curses about useless mutants.

"You!" he then heard the human growl. Then the comm.-link was shut off again. The alien then heard a scuffle somewhere outside.

"Shredder?" Krang tried to call the human, but there was no response. The alien moved the body closer to one of the doors leading to the main room, the one that led to the corridor where Shredder was.

"What is going on out there," he called, hoping that the turtles hadn't already reached this high up.

The door didn't quite open, more like it smashed as Shredder, Bebob and Rocksteady crashed through it and crashed on top of each other on the floor. Krang blinked then looked up at the now open doorway.

Standing there were three turtles but not the turtles he had exactly been expecting. One was definitely Assassin Leonardo in his usual black gear. One of the others was very dark green, wearing blood-red mask, a cartridge strap that went over his right shoulder, camouflage pants and army boots. He had a belt with both guns and hand grenades around his waist. That turtle was rubbing his knuckles as if he had just hit something, implying very much that it had been he who tossed Shredder and the two mutants through the door.

The other turtle had only one gun on his belt. He was wearing a black shirt, black pants and black boots. He was olive green and with a scar on his left temple.

"Hello Krang," Leonardo greeted the stunned brain alien with an evil smirk. "Donatello if you wouldn't mind."

The other black clad turtle, reached for a device from behind his back. It looked almost like a heavily modified taser. Donatello pushed a button on it and it sent an electric bolt at Krang's robotic body.

"W-what is h-h-happening," Krang stuttered as the body shook wildly and then crumbled to the ground.

"Nothing, just disabling your robot body," the assassin remarked his voice was now very chilly. Krang tried to crawl out of the suit but yelped when a black gloved hand picked him up by one tentacle.

"Let me go, let me go!" the warlord demanded as he was lifted up to be in eyelevel with the Assassin. "What do you think you're doing!?"

"Collecting my second payment, it's several months overdue by now," Leonardo smiled wide. "Of course with five months, I added some interests to the price."

"What are you talking about?" Krang growled and managed to glance where the Demolisher was tying up Shredder and the henchmutants. "Shredder! Didn't you send the second payment?"

"Ugh…what?" the armored human groaned and then glared up. "What? Of course I did, I sent…"

The two villains fell silent and then slowly glared over to the warthog and the rhino who were still recovering from the crash. It didn't take long though for the two mutants to realize that everyone was staring at them.

"Bebop, Rocksteady." Shredder narrowed his eyes on them. "You did pay Leonardo his money didn't you?"

"Yes we did," Bebop nodded quickly and Rocksteady agreed.

"Yeah, we gave da money to dis black masked toirtle like yous said," the rhino clarified.

"Yeah, he a black mask and only one eye, like him" the warthog told them and tried his best to gesture to the assassin.

Silence commenced once more. Krang used a tentacle to palm his face and Shredder bent down to bang his helmeted head up against his knees, since his hands were tied up behind his back. The three turtles could only listen to this exchange but all of them were rather amused by it.

"You mutant morons!" Shredder snapped at his henchmutants. "Leonardo had two eyes back then. You gave the money to Slash didn't you?!"

"Uh… well come to think of it, dat toirtle didn't wear a shoirt," Bebob recalled and thus pretty much confirming his master's words.

"So as you can see, Leonardo, this was all just a big misunderstanding," Krang looked at the assassin. "I'm sure we can come to some mutual agreement for payment."

"We could, but we won't," Leonardo chuckled and tossed the warlord over to the Demolisher. "Find a cage or something for him."

The Demolisher caught the cursing brain alien and found close by a big jar. Why the jar was there the turtle didn't know and didn't care, it would do. Krang was then stuffed protesting into the jar and put beside the other prisoners.

"Just great, what else can go wrong," Krang complained glaring at his accomplice.

"You really want me to answer that?" Shredder glared right back.

"No," the alien warlord grumbled.

 **End chapter 19**

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey wait minute, weren't Shredder and Krang supposed to die in this chapter? Well looks like I did some changes there didn't I? :-D


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 27/07 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

 **Dimension X**

"All right you highness, get those screens up and running," Assassin Leonardo grunted as he pushed at the fallen robot body on the floor with one foot.

The former overlord didn't say a word just walked straight to a console while tinkering with the taser device. He aimed at it and fired, this time the device sent what looked like lightning at the console. The turtle put the now smoking taser away.

"That should power it up long enough," Donatello grunted as he began working on the computer. Suddenly the screen divided into four parts, though it flickered a bit.

"Let's see now, the Donatellos are heading for the engines I see," Leonardo looked at the screen stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Hm, the Michelangelos are going for the armory if those signs are right," Donatello said both studying the monitor on the wall and the small one on the control panel.

"The Raphaels are going for the research facility, at least they are making it look like it," the assassin commented then glanced back when seeing the Demolisher return to the room, he had been moving the prisoners away. "How are our prisoners?"

"Complaining a lot, why didn't we kill them?" Raphael grunted and folded his arms.

"Because I did some research on Krang, there is a hefty bounty on his head, especially if he's brought in alive. Shredder is also wanted by the authorities in Pretty Boy's world and no doubt there is a reward for his capture, I think I'm going to collect it, as for the warthog and the rhino, eh we'll see," the assassin shrugged before returning his attention to the screens. "I can't see the Leonardos."

"That's because they are currently in an area that's running on auxiliary power," the ex-emperor informed him. "But if I am correct on their movements, they are heading up, thus maybe heading for this room."

"Even better," the assassin smirked evilly.

"So what now?" the Demolisher asked and walked closer to the other turtles.

"Now, Donatello is going to send a little programming code to the Foot soldier robots," Leonardo told the blood-red masked turtle.

"Entering the code and sending it now," the former emperor said. "It will take few minutes to activate."

"Meanwhile, come with me Raphael, we better make sure that there really is only one exit to this room," the assassin said and gestured to the Demolisher to follow.

The ex-emperor watched them leave before eying the big view-screen. One part showed where the Donatellos and his brother Cyborg Raphael were approaching a large steel door. To big for even the mechanical one to hammer down, but that didn't stop the large turtle from trying few times.

The former overlord's brow sunk in a frown, then began typing something on the computer. Occasionally he would glance at the screen; the cyborg had spotted a control panel and was approaching it.

* * *

"Well I'll be. First raw strength won't work. Let's see if my charm will," the cyborg chuckled and aimed his left hand at the control panel. A cable shot out of the knuckles and connected with a node on the panel.

The three Donatellos watched as the mechanical turtle stood still and silent, looking to be doing nothing but be connected to the panel. Then a wry grin came over his face and the door began slowly to open. But the grin froze and slowly dropped. The door was now fully open but still the mechanical turtle didn't move.

"Raphael, is something wrong?" Don addressed him.

"W-wha…what? No… nothing," the cyborg disconnected the cable and stared at the panel for a moment. He sighed shaking his head.

"They are here," he whispered.

"Who?" Donatello asked looking confused at his counterparts and then at the cyborg.

"The assassin, the Demolisher and… my brother." The mechanical turtle looked at them. "In the main control room."

"That's where Leo and his group are heading." Don gasped and grabbed for his Shell-Cell, but there was no response. "Damn the signal is being jammed."

"They will be there before we could reach and warn them anyway," the cyborg said. "Let's complete our assignment and then worry about it. I'm sure your brothers can handle it."

"Sounds like the only thing we can do." Don sighed and looked at the Ninja Master. The dogi-clad turtle hesitated for a moment before almost reluctantly nodded. They then disappeared into the large room that was full of Foot and Rock soldiers.

Oddly enough only the Rock soldiers charged and began firing. The robots just stood still. As the cyborg began attacking them, his computer brain began playing the message he had received while trying to open the door.

 _Greetings Raphael._

 _It's been a while since we have spoken to each other. You probably thought I was dead then again you probably know by now that I am indeed alive._

 _I do not care if you believe me or not but what I'm about to tell you is the truth, it will be up to you how you take it. But I am sorry. Sorry what I did to you, sorry what I did to Leo and especially sorry what I did to Mikey._

 _Yes I truly do regret what I did. I went too far, I was mad and out of control. I just saw some twisted desires and really did believe you guys were in my way. As well as some hidden and buried jealousy at Mikey played in as well, jealousy that should never have been expressed._

 _You might wonder if I am truly sorry, I will say yes I am. Sorry how I treated my brothers. However, I do not regret what I did to the humans; as far as I am concerned, they deserved everything they got._

 _If you wonder about my mental illness, my split personality disorder, then I tell you that it is no longer a concern. While hiding in the assassin's ranch I stumbled finally up on a cure, a real cure. It fused my split mind together; it effectively combined the three of us into one single personality. We are now one once more. The process has caused me to realize that some things I did wrong, like attacking my brothers._

 _Other things I do not regret, like establishing Turtotopia and mutating the humans. Do not worry, I have no desire to continue with that. I have other things on my mind now and I'll continue to work on them. You might as well consider me dead, Raphael._

 _The Donatello you knew, he effectively is. Only his memories live. I miss them; I do miss both Leo-bro and Mikey. I wish I could bring them back._

 _Your brother._

 _Donatello._

* * *

"This room is empty." Mikey sighed as the three turtles entered a room that had been labeled armory.

"Damn." The deputy scratched his head and looked around. "Come to think of it, we haven't even met a single person in at least an hour."

"Yeah, that's strange, this place is usually crawling in Foot and Rock soldiers," Michelangelo commented.

The three continued further into the room until they had reached the other end. They all wondered what to do, they had reached a destination but now what? Mikey had already tried a Shell-Cell but found out the signal didn't work. Finally they spied a door and rushed to it.

"To the research facility," Mikey read the sign and opened the door and peeked in.

"What do you see Amigo?" Michelangelo inquired leaning forward behind his counterpart. The deputy was leaning up against the wall beside the doorway.

"Um a corridor, but it probably leads to this facility." The non-letter wearing turtle shrugged.

"Might as well head there," the deputy grunted and disappeared through the doorway. The younger turtles shrugged and followed.

* * *

"This is it," the magistrate said as they stopped by a door marked "research facility".

"After what are we waiting for then." Raph grinned and kicked down the door. The three turtles then rushed into the large room.

"Oh look, the welcoming wagon," Raphael commented when they were met with a horde of Rock soldiers and Foot soldiers.

"Great," his non-letter wearing counterpart snorted. But then he noticed that only the Rock soldiers were aiming their laser rifles. The robots didn't move at all. So as the beams began flying the turtles threw themselves behind few of the still soldiers.

"Why aren't the Foot bots attacking?" the very-dark green ninja growled. "Not that I am complaining."

"Dunno, maybe they short-circuited," his R-wearing counterpart suggested.

"Dammit, they have us pinned down with those rifles, there isn't much maneuvering space now," the magistrate snorted.

"So we are stuck?" Raph growled but then tried to push the robot he was hiding behind. It tripped over another soldier and caused a domino effect as several Foot soldiers crumbled to the ground, causing enough confusion for the turtles to attack the Rock soldiers.

However, the fight dragged on. This time there was much more of their opponent. And the three turtles had a bit of difficulty disarming all of them. The magistrate grimaced as he saw more soldiers arrive from another section of this large room.

"Damn it, there is too many of them," he growled but Raph and Raphael were to busy fighting to answer.

Raph growled when a soldier managed to punch him to the ground. The non-letter wearing turtle looked up and scowled when seeing his opponent preparing to step on him. Before he could react there was a loud shout.

"COWABUNGA!"

Suddenly a dark green turtle wearing orange gear and an M-buckle on his belt hit the soldier. The enemy was quickly then crushed by forceful nunchaku attack. Raph flipped to his feet and saw now where the Michelangelos had joined the fight.

 _I have never been so glad to hear that shout._ The very dark green ninja found himself admitting. He mentally reminded himself not to admit that in front of others. Instead he just joined the fight once more. Now with six turtles, the Rock soldiers were easier to handle and were soon all taken care off. All that remained were the motionless Foot soldiers.

"So what's the deal with the robots?" Raph asked once more and poked one of the few standing robots with a single sai.

"Maybe Leo and his group reached the main control room, and shut down whatever controls the Foot Soldiers?" Raphael suggested with a shrug.

"Raph." Deputy Mike put a hand on the magistrate's shoulder and leaned towards him so the others wouldn't hear. "Don't you ever, ever leave me alone with those two again."

"What, they weren't that bad were they?" his mask-less brother teased. The deputy just scowled, clearly indicating that he had not found that amusing.

"Ok so what do we do here?" Mikey asked looking around but couldn't see anything of interest.

"The Shell-Cells and the Turtle-Comms don't work anymore; maybe we should try finding a way to contact the others, maybe head for the engines?" Raphael suggested.

"Well that sounds like an idea to me, though we could also try and go for the main control room as well," the magistrate added in. "We could also split up again."

"Sure why not, the Mikeys go for the engines, we go for the control room," Raph suggested, the only one not liking that idea was the deputy. Unfortunately, his brother wasn't in a very charitable mood.

"Works for me, Mikey, keep them in line and get to the engines, we'll meet the Leos and Casey," the magistrate said and with the other Raphaels disappeared out of the room.

 _He loves this, he loves torturing me,_ the deputy growled in his mind as he followed his counterparts out.

* * *

"This is it," Leonardo said as they stepped into a corridor. "We are not far away from the main control room."

"Ok, I wasn't expecting us to actually reach there before the Donatellos had finished," Leo said and picked up his Shell-Cell but only learned what the others had, it didn't work. "Oh shell."

"My Turtle-Comm doesn't work either," the L-wearing turtle announced and cringed a little. That meant they were out of touch with everyone.

Leo carefully continued forward and suddenly a door opened right in front of him. The turtle signaled the others before carefully making his way in. He was clearly in a control room; there was a view screen that showed pictures and several control panels with small monitors. Leonardo and Casey walked in right after him.

"Oh my…" the L-clad turtle spotted where a robotic body lay crumbled on the ground.

"That was?" Leo looked at his counterpart.

"That's Krang's robot body, but where's Krang?" Leonardo blinked and looked around.

"I wonder what happened here?" the non-letter wearing turtle muttered and stepped closer to the consoles. He noticed the view-screen showing three of the groups. The Donatellos, the Michelangelos and the Raphaels.

"No sign of Krang," Leonardo reported, he was examining the robot body and especially the midsection of it. Leo frowned and turned to face the view-screens again. Something was not right.

"Casey stay with Leonardo," Leo instructed the human and approached another door in the room. It slid open and the turtle walked through.

He was in another corridor and the turtle continued onward. It only seemed to lead to a dead end. There was something that could have once been an entrance but it looked sealed.

"Hello again Leo," a chilly voice addressed him. The turtle spun around and froze; stepping out of a concealing shadow was the assassin. Arms folded and his right eye shining a strange glint.

"You!" Leo found his voice surprisingly quickly. His black clad counterpart shrugged and grinned devilishly.

"So I take it you're the reason we haven't met Krang or Shredder yet?" the blue clad one inquired though he was pretty sure the answer was yes.

"Yeah I suppose, the Demolisher, the ex-emperor and I sort of took over," the assassin began examining his gloved right hand.

"So they are here too," Leo glanced around but couldn't see anybody else in the corridor.

"Well not here, here, but around," the assassin shrugged and looked up again. Then his smile changed into smirk. "How's Donny's arm

Leo sneered at the black clad turtle who was chuckling. He still had that vivid memory of the assassin bringing down the katana on the ninja master, slicing the hand off so quickly. He and Raph had barely managed to get him to the hospital in time.

"Fine, no thanks to you," the blue masked ninja snorted pointing one katana at the assassin.

"Hey, he did take out my eye. Anyway so how is your Donny doing, he seemed to take his imprisonment in strides back when I caught him," the assassin continued and his smirk turned more devious.

"You leave my brother out of this." Leo glowered at his counterpart. Don may not have been hurt during his imprisonment but that had not meant he hadn't been affected by it.

"You know if my original plans would have gone through, I would have had to alter him a little bit to match up. I wanted him to impersonate my Donatello, of course that would have meant I would have had to cut out his tongue too and cut him up…" The assassin halted and swiftly pulled up his katana when Leo charged with a roar.

"You! Shut! UP!" The blue masked ninja snapped and began striking madly with his katanas.

"Temper, temper," his counterpart snickered and defended against the strikes easily.

"You are sick, twisted, demented…." Leo felt lack of words to continue describe his opponent. It only seemed to amuse the assassin more.

"You have absolutely no idea," he hissed and suddenly twisted his wrist. Before the blue clad turtle could react he had been disarmed. The assassin quickly kicked him to the ground. A sandal clad foot landed on Leo's plastron and he had a sword tip suddenly at his neck.

"This is familiar," the black masked turtle snickered. "I take it that Pretty Boy and the human are in the main control room?"

"His name is Leonardo." Leo corrected with a sneer.

"I have to admit that I wasn't expecting you to get this far. I figured you would simply go for the engines and then leave. Oh well not that it changes much anyway," the assassin said with a chuckle.

"The Demolisher and the former emperor are now as we speak removing any salvageable technology from this fortress, what we need and what we can sell," the black clad turtle explained to his counterpart.

"I guess there is no use attempting to prevent that," Leo grunted, getting a little tired of his position but he couldn't do much about that now.

"Hmmm… no," the assassin confirmed the other turtle's suspicions.

"AAAAAH!" was yelled and suddenly someone threw himself at the black clad turtle. He was thrown off his counterpart and further into the corridor, but hadn't dropped his katana.

Leo quickly rose up and saw to his surprise that it was Leonardo who had come running. Somehow managed to overcome his fears and attacked. The L-wearing turtle now engaged in a brief scuffle on the floor with his tormentor. However, the assassin was stronger and managed to kick him off and back flip to his legs again.

The letter-wearing turtle quickly jumped to his feet and using his both katanas attacked. Rhe assassin didn't bother raising his; he swiftly sheathed his sword and quickly managed to grab the dark-green ninja's wrists. Leonardo froze and was held in the one eyed gaze of the black-masked turtle.

"Let him go!" Leo shouted and rushed towards them. His dark green counterpart had already dropped his swords and was trembling.

The non-letter wearing turtle didn't get closer; he was suddenly hit with an electric bolt. Screaming the ninja crumbled floor. It had not been strong enough to knock him out but he was now in horrendous pain all over his body. He tried to rise up but then heard a click of a gun. A booted foot was planted on his carapace, pinning him to the floor.

"Don't move, unless you want a hole in your back," a familiar voice addressed him. It was the former emperor.

The assassin pushed Leonardo away; the dark-green ninja stumbled backwards before falling shivering to the floor. His black-wearing counterpart snorted and kicked the katanas on the floor away. Then produced straps from his utility belt and threw them to Donatello.

"Tie him up. What about the human that was with them?" Assassin Leonardo asked while producing another set of restrains from his belt.

"Our explosive happy accomplice took care of him," The former overlord grunted. He knelt down after holstering the gun and began tying Leo's hands behind his carapace.

"So how has the salvage operation gone?" the black-masked turtle asked while he tied up Leonardo.

"We have gathered most of the repairable things. The robots have now all received their new orders, we can soon begin gathering them," ex-Emperor Donatello explained and rose up, then he picked up his gun again. "All right, stand up."

Leo tried to ignore the pain as he stumbled to his knees, then the turtle slowly rose up. He tested his bonds but learned that his hands didn't want to cooperate at all. The ninja was lucky to be able to stand. He glanced to his L-wearing counterpart. The assassin was pulling him up, but the dark-green turtle was having trouble standing upright as well. His knees were shaking badly and he avoided looking at the black-masked one.

"Move it." The former overlord grabbed his shoulder and turned him towards the entrance of the control room. Leo was then pushed forward.

"Hm so the robots are ready, guess we should then call for the pick up then," the assassin said as he pulled Leonardo towards the control room. "Is there enough power to call between dimensions?"

"More than enough," Donatello snorted. "Remember we don't have to conserve power, we are not trying to repair anything."

"Ah of course," the black clad turtle chuckled. They entered the control room with their prisoners. In there the Demolisher was standing over a tied up and unconscious Casey Jones.

"So what are we going to do with those?" Raphael grunted when seeing how many prisoners they now had. "Don't think we can stuff them in that closet with the others."

"For now, just make sure they don't do anything," the assassin said and had Leonardo sit down near the human.

"Sit down over there;" the former emperor ordered Leo, pointing with the gun at a spot close by the L-wearing turtle.

"Raphael, you keep an eye on them while Donatello and I make a call," the assassin told the Demolisher while walking towards a control panel. The blood-red masked turtle shrugged and now stared attentively at the prisoners.

"So who are we calling?" the ex-emperor asked as he walked towards this employer.

"Her name is Drerra, She is the foremost weapons and high technology smuggler in the multiverse… one of the foremost," the assassin told him and picked up his dimension traveler. "We will be calling her with this frequency, she is expecting us."

"Whoa, did you say Drerra?" Demolisher Raphael asked glancing at the assassin.

"Yep, I take it you are familiar with her as well?" the black masked turtle asked.

"Familiar? I used to f… I mean I used to sell weapons for that psycho bitch. You weren't kidding when you said we would be getting good money for this operation," the Demolisher said with a smirk.

For a moment the assassin regarded Raphael unsure, the blood-red masked turtle had almost said something else before quickly changing it. He shrugged it off quickly and filed it under unimportant.

"When I make deals," he said instead and grinned wickedly. "I deal with the best."

 **End chapter 20**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 28/07 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

 **Dimension X**

"Hm the signal is little fuzzy, can you hear us?" the assassin asked. On the view-screen was a distorted image of someone. The silhouette was too unclear to make anything out of it.

"Yes, yes honey, we can hear you," a female voice spoke through the intercom. "My ship is just passing through an ion storm; it's messing up with the imaging system. But audio should be clear."

"Yes it is, we can hear you," Assassin Leonardo nodded and looked at the ex-emperor who began typing on the console.

"As promised Drerra, we have over five hundred robots ready for you; in various conditions I'm afraid. As well as some other technology, some of it might need repairs," the black clad turtle told the person on the view-screen.

"Splendid," Drerra said and could be heard giggle. "Don't worry about the conditions; my technicians are used to almost everything."

"Good, are you receiving the coordinates?" the assassin asked while glancing at the former overlord, the olive green turtle hit a button on the console.

"Just got them darling," Drerra announced after a moment. "I have sent a message to one of my cargo ships, it will move into a proper position at these coordinates. It will be there in an hour or so."

"Good, I'll begin the necessary preparation. We'll be in touch," the black-masked turtle said.

"I got her coordinates," Donatello confirmed with a nod.

"Looking forward to our next chat, Leonardo, see ya," Drerra said and the view-screen became blank.

"Right, let's get to work then," Assassin Leonardo turned away from the screen to face the Demolisher and the prisoners. The assassin raised an eye-ridge when seeing the happy smile on Raphael; it was almost as if he had enjoyed hearing that voice again. It quickly vanished once the demolisher noticed him watching.

"What was all this talk about ships?" the former overlord inquired as he rose up from the console interrupting the assassin from asking Raphael about that smile.

"Drerra operates in deep space," the Demolisher supplied with a wry grin. "The perfect hiding ground for an interdimensional smuggler."

"Never the same coordinates every day, impossible to get to them except by chasing them down by another ship and even that can be hard to do," the assassin smirked and folded his arms.

"So we are talking about space ships, with dimensional transportation capabilities?" the former overlord asked surprised.

 _Wow, Don would love to get his hands on those._ Leo thought where he was tied up beside Leonardo. His L-wearing counterpart was still trembling and had his eyes closed. Casey remained unconscious.

"Send the new order to the robots, have them gather around in the main hangar bay, it is the biggest," the assassin told the ex-emperor.

"The robots should begin gathering around shortly, what should we do about the other turtles running around?" Donatello wondered. He was eyeing the screen showing the movements of the other groups.

"Let's allow, the Donatellos to destroy the engines," the assassin said with a yawn. "So where are the others heading?"

"Hm, the Michelangelos seem to be heading to the engines now," the ex-emperor reported.

"And the Raphaels?"

* * *

"So the main controls are on the upper levels, how do we get to the upper levels?" Raph growled while the three turtles ran after the corridor.

"Well, usually by an elevator or a ventilation shaft, but so far we haven't seen either one," Raphael answered and shook his head. "This place is huge remember."

The two red masked turtle stopped when they noticed that the magistrate had halted and was staring back the way they came from. Suddenly the mask-less one drew up his butterfly swords and frowned. It was then the younger turtles heard the marching footsteps.

"Ah damn," the non-letter wearing one growled and got ready with his sai.

"I knew they wouldn't stay for long," Raphael muttered when they saw who were coming, a marching line of Foot soldier robots.

The three turtles got ready as the line approached. However, none of the robots acted as if they saw them. Instead, the machines continued to walk as if nothing was in the corridor at all. Raph was ready to jump at the nearest robot but the magistrate managed to stop him, because the bot just continued on.

"Oookay," Raphael scratched his head and rose up from his crouched position. The line marched on past them as if the turtles didn't exist.

"What's up with them?" the R-wearing turtle stared first in the direction the robots came from and then the way they were heading in.

"They are ignoring us," the magistrate said with a frown. "That's odd."

"Yeah I mean, not so long ago they were with the Rock soldiers in trying to riddle us full of laser holes," Raph remarked and shrugged.

"Should we follow, see where they are going?" Raphael asked glancing at his counterparts.

"No, let them march on, apparently we are no longer an enemy," the magistrate commented. "We better get to the main control room; I wonder were we could find a way up."

It was as if the turtle had given an order. Suddenly one of the robots stopped and stepped forward. Then it bowed for the three turtles and gestured them to follow. The Raphaels all stared for a moment then eyed each other. Shrugging they decided to see where this went.

The Foot robot escorted them further after the hallway and into another corridor. There it pointed them at a big elevator door. Then the soldier turned and left them there. Only Raphael stared after it, his two very dark green counterparts stared at elevator.

"Okay that was weird," Magistrate Raphael commented scratching his head.

"It's almost like we are being invited," the R-wearing turtle said with a frown, the door opened revealing the large elevator car.

"Smells like a trap," Raph growled.

"I'm inclined to agree, but then again it could be that the Leonardos and Casey did reach the main control room. But still," the magistrate muttered and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Oh for crying out loud just get in the elevator," a voice sounding very much like Leo's suddenly shouted through a speaker somewhere.

"Wha? Leo?" Raph looked around surprised.

"Yeah, Leonardo, Casey and I defeated Shredder and Krang, we are in the main control room. Leonardo messed around with the controls and apparently the Foot soldiers are now on our side. They are headed to assist the Donatellos," the voice said.

"Well, what do you know," Raphael grinned and tugged his sais on his belt. "Looks like we have hit on some heavy stroke of luck."

"Yeah," Raph said but frowned, something didn't sit right with him. There was something about the tone in the voice.

"Guys we need your help up here, could you please come now instead of tomorrow?" Leo said through the speaker.

"Oh all right keep your shell on Leo," the non-letter wearing turtle grunted and entered the elevator car, so did his counterparts. The door closed and they began ascending up.

"I don't know about you guys, but this doesn't sound right," Raph said in a very low voice eyeing around suspiciously.

"Yes… there was something… I don't know." the magistrate frowned.

"Oh come on, you heard the voice it, was Leo's," Raphael said cheerfully. The elevator stopped and the door began to open.

"Why it would have to be the assassin for it to be other…" the R-clad one stepped out first while speaking but he stopped short when he was in the corridor. Right in front of him was the Demolisher and Leonardo, the blood-red masked turtle was aiming a gun at the L-wearing one's temple.

"What the shell!" Raph snarled when he saw what was going on, the magistrate sneered.

"Move and I'll blow his brain out," the Demolisher threatened and proceeded to press a bit at the trigger but didn't fire. Leonardo didn't look at them, just stared down and was trembling; his hands were tied behind his carapace.

"Good work Raphael," a voice sounding so much like Leo's now addressed them. Suddenly from behind the Demolisher appeared the assassin grinning madly.

"I would have thought you knew," the black clad turtle said still speaking in the exact Leo voice before switching to his growlier version. "That I happen to share your brother's voice as well as appearance."

"Why you little…" Raph growled and began to approach but halted when the gun was pressed harder at Leonardo's temple.

"Ah, ah, ah, not a move unless Pretty Boy here gets an unnatural hole in his pretty little head," the assassin said wagging a finger at the very-dark green ninja.

"Drop your weapons," the Demolisher ordered. Now first did Leonardo looked up, opening his eyes and stared with heavy regret at the three Raphaels.

'I'm sorry,' he mouthed.

 _Me too._ Raphael sighed, not wishing to endanger his already fragile brother. The R-wearing turtle picked up his sais and threw them to the floor.

"This is low, even for you Leo," the magistrate snorted and after a moment's hesitation threw his butterfly swords down. He also retrieved a single sai from the back of his belt and dropped it. The assassin sneered at the nickname; he began producing straps from his utility belt when noticing Raph.

"Raphie boy, you better drop those sais. You won't be doing your brothers and your friends any favors by being stubborn," he said. Raph was the only one who still hadn't dropped his weapons.

"Look if you attack, the emperor is under orders to shot your brother and your friend. The moment he hears a slight hint of a scuffle, they are dead," the assassin told him when the turtle made no move to remove his sais.

"Raph, I know how you feel. Several years ago, I would have wanted nothing more but to plunge into action," the magistrate said and put a hand on Raph's shoulder. "But they got the upper hand now. We can't win this round. These are not people who hesitate before pulling the trigger."

Growling Raph finally complied, picked up his sais and threw them to the floor. But he didn't take his hateful stare off the assassin who smirked now.

"Good boy. Now brother of mine, catch." The black-masked one threw the straps to the magistrate. "Tie your counterparts up. And don't try anything like pretending to tie them; I'll be checking those bonds afterwards."

"Do it," Raph grunted and put his hands behind his back. "Like you said, we can't win this round."

Magistrate still hesitated before he reluctantly tied both his counterparts. He was then promptly tied himself by the assassin. The black-clad turtle checked the straps on Raph and Raphael, but concluded that his brother had actually tied them properly up.

"Now march into the control room," Assassin Leonardo snickered and pushed them forward.

* * *

"Did we just see the Foot soldiers walk away from the battle?" Don asked as he put his Bo to his back.

"Yes we did," Donatello said just as surprised as his counterpart. They had just finished dealing with the Rock soldiers, but the robots had suddenly just begun walking away.

"Wonder what my brother is up to, this has to be his doing," the cyborg muttered.

"Let's worry about it later, we are near the engines, let's take care of them," Don said and the group moved onward.

They finally reached their destination and the turtles got to work. Most of the engines were still damaged, but there were signs of preparation to begin working on them. The main one was obliterated and obviously needed to be replaced.

"These must be the replacement parts," Donatello said knocking on few metal crates that were nearby where the main engine should be.

"Let's blow it up then," the cyborg said.

Don nodded and knelt down, removing his duffle bag from his shoulder. The turtle then began picking up explosive charges out of it. The Ninja Master took some of them while Donatello the others. The mechanical turtle stood guard while the smaller ones worked.

"I would have expected more soldiers to be protecting this area," Donatello commented while putting few charges on an engine.

"Well if the Foot soldiers hadn't just up and left, there would have been more to protect them," Don mentioned while working on the detonation device.

"Krang must have some of the Rock soldiers out and attacking other areas of this dimension, I was expecting far more of them here," the D-wearing turtle said and moved to another engine to plant explosives on.

"Well of course, he didn't exactly let us near too many of them," the non-letter wearing one mention eyeing the Cyborg who grinned.

"Whaaaaat?" he asked innocently.

"I was just wondering, won't they lose power if we kill the engines? I mean the guys have to find their way out," Don then wondered glancing at his dark-green counterpart.

"We have disabled the engines plenty of times and Krang always seemed to have enough power to make portals or keep the lights on. So he must have the auxiliary power generator elsewhere or something. But we don't need to worry about that one, it won't run forever and isn't powerful enough to power the entire drome," Donatello explained.

It was a half an hour work to cover everything they wanted. The engine room was large and they wanted to make sure to get all of it. Once they were finally done they gathered around and prepared to leave.

"Ok, we need to get at least few hundred meters away from the blast zone, I don't know how much damage the charges will make, but it will be extensive," Don said as he shouldered the duffle bag once more.

"Let's get out of here then." Donatello nodded and the group began heading for the exit. They noticed someone enter the room. Everybody got ready with their weapons.

"Yo don't shoot, we come in peace," Michelangelo shouted when he saw the cyborg aim at him with his laser gun barrel.

"What are you doing here?" Don asked and frowned when the three Michelangelos came now into clearer view.

"Well we met the Raphaels, but decided to split up again. They went to meet up with the Leonardos and Casey, we went for you guys," Mikey explained.

"Well, let's get out of here, we are about to blow this room up," Donatello remarked and the seven turtles rushed out of the room.

"Ok that should be far enough," Don said after they had been running for awhile after the corridor. He knelt down and got the detonator from the duffle bag.

"All right, get in front of me just in case," the cyborg ordered and ushered Michelangelo and Mikey forward. Now the mechanical turtle was standing in the way towards the engine room. "Even though I'm not indestructible, I am more blast proof than you."

"Activating explosives now," the olive green turtle announced and hit the button.

The whole corridor shock; they could hear the sound of torn up metal and falling debris. In part of the hall they were in was now cracked. For a moment all seven turtles just waited. Then few of them let out breath they hadn't realized they were holding.

"That should do it I think," the cyborg mentioned and looked back.

"But the question is, do we even have to worry about Krang trying to fix that?" Donatello said and scratched his head.

"What do you mean by that bud?" Michelangelo asked his D-wearing brother.

"Because the cyborg confirmed that certain set of turtles we don't want to meet are in the Technodrome as well, the assassin, the former emperor and the Demolisher," Don explained to him.

"WHAT?" all three Michelangelos shouted out in surprise.

"What are they doing here?" Mikey asked and looked around frantically.

"Let's find out," Cyborg Raphael growled, Don stood up and the group continued down the corridor.

* * *

"The robots are almost in place, most of these Rock soldiers that were present have been disposed of," the ex-emperor said and rose up from the console.

"Good, Drerra's ship should be in position by now," the assassin nodded. It was then that they felt a slight tremor in the floor.

"What was that?" the Demolisher frowned. "Felt like explosion."

"Probably was, the Donatellos must have finished the engines," the black-masked turtle said and looked down at the floor. But then he shrugged carelessly.

The former overlord in the meantime was now at another console and tapping in commands. The assassin turned to face the view screen. On it appeared Drerra and now the image was much clearer, showing all her features.

She was wolfish, or at least her head was, but the rest of her body was humanoid, clad in a very tight black leather cat suit. Her feet had black high heel leather boots as well. The wolfoid woman smiled as wide as her muzzle allowed once the connection was clear.

"Hi Leonardo, nice to see you again," she said with a giggle.

"Likewise," the assassin smiled politely. "The robots and the technology you wanted to buy are pretty much in place. We only wait your ship."

"Oh it is in position. They will open a portal shortly," the woman said. Then her gaze turned towards the Demolisher and she smiled even wider. "Is that you Raphael? I thought you were in jail."

"Yeah well the assassin busted me out," Demolisher Raphael shrugged.

"Oooh that's great news," the wolfoid said and actually jumped up and down in her seat in excitement. "Akre's been trying to contact you."

There was a stunned silence in the room now. Only the former emperor and most of the prisoners showed no recognition of the name. However, Demolisher Raphael, his magistrate counterpart and the assassin were all three completely shocked.

"A-A-Akre has been… um…trying to contact me?" the Demolisher actually sounded terrified. "We…I mean I don't owe him money do I?"

"Oh, nothing like that sweetie. I think he has a job for you," Drerra said smiling now rather normally. The blood-red masked turtle stroke imaginary sweat from his forehead and let out a breath of relief.

"He is working for me now," the assassin clarified but there wasn't much resolve in his voice and it did sound a bit nervous. "He hasn't finished yet."

"Oh I'm sure Akre understands, want me to relay a message to him were you can be found?" the woman asked looking at the Demolisher.

"NO!" Demolisher Raphael shouted and then cleared his throat. "I mean… no um I'll let Leo... Leonardo handle that.".

"Ok then. The ship is ready, I'm looking forward to see my new toys," Drerra said and the view-screen became blank.

"Who is Akre?" Leo whispered to the magistrate who sat next to him.

"Oh only the most powerful crime lord in the multiverse," the mask less turtle said with a nervous grin.

"How bad is he?" Raph asked with a frown.

"When is the last time you saw the assassin looking so frightened?" the magistrate whispered.

"Well we personally didn't see it but Mikey said he had looked ready to 'crap his pants' when seeing Sinda," Leo mentioned.

"Exactly," Magistrate Raphael said and shook his head. "Sinda is afraid of Akre."

"So if the assassin is afraid of Sinda and Sinda is afraid of Akre…" Raph got silent.

"By the way, was Drerra a mutant wolf?" Leo wondered but was surprised to see the magistrate shake his head.

"Rymska, a wolfoid alien race part of a larger species called Rytonas," he told them. "Drerra is though not the usual Rytona."

"Yeah we figured that," Raph grunted. They all got silent when the assassin stepped in front of them.

"All right enough chattering, it's time for you to get to work," the black masked turtle said with a smirk.

* * *

"Where are we going?" Mikey asked. They had been going through several corridors for at least an hour by now.

"We are trying to find an elevator shaft or something," Don responded and looked at his D-wearing counterpart.

"Or at least try and see where the Foot soldiers went," Donatello muttered. "That might give a hint what these turtles are doing here."

"Somehow I doubt he's offering his service again to this Krang," the deputy muttered. His dogi clad brother nodded in agreement.

"Shh, I hear something," the cyborg shushed everybody. For a moment everybody halted and now they could indeed hear something. Muffled voices coming from somewhere nearby.

The cyborg started to scan around and with a frown approached a steel door. The other turtles followed curiously but Raphael just stood in front of it for a moment. The muffled voices were coming from behind it.

"I'm reading four life forms," the cyborg said and glanced at the other turtles, then he simply punched through the door and tore if off it's hinges.

All seven turtles blinked in surprise when Shredder, Bebop, Rocksteady and Krang rolled out of the closet. The warlord was still in the jar and he was arguing with the human. They fell silent though once noticing reptiles standing above them.

"Oh terrific, stuffed in that closet by Leonardo and his cronies only to be rescued by them," Krang groaned, he grunted when the jar was picked up by D-wearing Donatello.

"Who said we are rescuing you!" the turtle said darkly and sneered while shaking the jar. "You're responsible for sending my brothers and me through five months of hell!"

"Donatello." Don stepped up and put a hand on his counterpart's shoulder. The jar with the now very shaky Krang was removed and given to the ninja master. The Cyborg and the Michelangelos stood up Shredder and the two mutants but did not untie them.

"What should we do with them, we need speed and dragging them along will slow us down?" Raphael wondered.

"I say we just stuff them back in the closet," M-Michelangelo remarked, showing an uncharacteristic scowl.

"No wait!" Krang yelled, having recovered from the earlier shaking. "We can help you!"

"We can?" Shredder had so far just been content to glower at his reptilian enemies.

The two letter wearing turtles just gave Krang a dark look; it was obvious that the two of them did not trust the warlord at all. The other turtles frowned and it was Don who in the end stepped closer to the jar and peered inside of it.

"What do you mean help us?" He asked carefully.

"Leonardo wants the technology of my Technodrome and I wouldn't be surprised by this time he's already captured your friends. If he's going to be transporting anything off my fortress he could only do it in one room large enough," the warlord explained.

"And what room would that be?" Don asked.

"Free us and I will show you," Krang offered smirking, it disappeared when the olive-green turtle snorted.

"Show us and then we'll consider freeing you," he said.

"I suggest you take that offer," the cyborg chuckled and promptly and without visible effort lifted Shredder up by the one shoulder.

"Hey! Put me down you metallic shell brain!" the man protested with a growl.

"As you wish," Raphael let go of the human who dropped down unceremoniously to the floor.

Krang relented in the end to what was offered to him. Still imprisoned in the jar held by the ninja master, he led the group through the corridors. The rest of the turtles guarded the other prisoners.

The group soon enough found themselves on a balcony of some sort overlooking a large hangar. Everybody, including the cyborg, quickly ducked out of sight. Carefully though one by one each of the seven turtles peeked over the railing, as did three of the prisoners. Ninja Master Donatello was courteous enough to lift the jar so Krang could see too.

Down in the hangar a large black portal was open. It was rectangle in shape and wide enough both ways for ten robots walking side by side to walk through. For a moment the group focused just on the robots, wondering what types they were. But then they noticed the pile of torn remains of foot soldier uniforms. It was growing bigger and bigger, since each robot stopped and had it's uniform torn off before walking in the marching line through the portal.

"Ow!" Mikey rubbed the back of his neck; Don had just hit him there with his Bo staff.

"Stop humming the Imperial March," his purple masked brother whispered sharply.

"But it fits so well," his brother whimpered and rubbed his sore head.

"What are they doing with my foot soldiers?" Shredder asked scowling heavily.

"Looks like dey are bein' sent through that portal," Rocksteady answered and got a withering glare from his boss.

"I can see that!" the man hissed.

"Guys…" Michelangelo whispered and pointed at the spot were the robots were undressed. "Those dudes look familiar to you?"

"Familiar? It's…" Donatello stopped and his eyes bulged out.

Working on removing the uniforms of the robots were Leo, Raph, Casey and the magistrate. Though it couldn't be said that they were enjoying it very much, all of them were grim faced, occasionally glaring in a direction.

Don risked rising a little higher to see more and saw the entrance were the robots still came through into the hangar. By the door tied down were Leonardo and Raphael. Standing near them with a gun was Demolisher Raphael, he even made a point at having the weapon constantly aimed at the tied up turtles. Don could spot were the emperor was working with a clipboard keeping his distance. The former overlord was constantly looking up and then writing something down, probably keeping a count on the robots. The only one that could not be spotted was the assassin.

"Oh crap," Deputy Michelangelo grunted. Everyone on the balcony quickly ducked back down. "How are we going to do this? The Demolisher is too close to Raphael and Leonardo."

The Ninja Master was rubbing his chin thoughtfully; he then carefully peeked over the balcony before ducking back down. He put Krang's jar down and did a hand signal with his left hand.

"Right, we need a distraction," the deputy muttered. Then he, the Donatellos, the cyborg and even Krang and Shredder looked at Mikey and Michelangelo.

"What?" they both asked at the same time.

"Um boss?" Bebop blinked when Shredder then turned his attention to him and Rocksteady.

 **End chapter 21**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 29/07 2006

* * *

 **Chapter 22**

 **Dimension X**

"Man, can't believe we have been reduced to cheap labor," Casey grunted as he ripped yet another uniform of a robot.

"Well we don't have much choice do we?" Leo whispered while throwing more clothes on the growing pile. "They will shoot Raphael and Leonardo if we don't."

"Don't worry, I just saw Donny peek over that balcony, the guys know about us," Raph told them in a very low voice. Leo, Casey and the magistrate nodded and did not look up to the balcony. Just in case a rescue was in process.

"Casey, I got an idea that might help the guys help us," the blue clad turtle shot quietly to the human. The man didn't nod and pretended that Leo hadn't in fact spoken to him.

For a moment they continued to remove the uniforms as to not rouse any suspicions. They didn't know what the assassin was doing; he had remained in the control room. The Demolisher was starting to look bored by the entrance. The former overlord kept his distance from the prisoners. He was busy counting each robot that stepped into the marching line going through the portal.

"Raph is closest to the robots going to the portal; pretend you are going to help him. Accidentally bump into a robot that's going in the line, the robots will hopefully tumble and cause a bit of confusion," Leo whispered to the human.

"Got it," Casey said trying not to move his lips in the process. Then he looked in the direction of his red masked friend.

"Hey Raph, you are doing it wrong." He suddenly announced loudly and approached the turtle.

"What are you blabbering about bonehead," Raph snorted the two then began scuffling with the robot and its uniform.

The man bumped into a robot that was walking into the marching line. It tripped and fell on a robot already approaching the portal. It caused a domino effect as most of the robots fell over each other and crumbled to the floor. Raph and Casey meanwhile continued their scuffle.

"Hey what is going on," the ex-emperor called having seen the chaos; he immediately went for his gun.

Suddenly there was a large explosion close to the ceiling, everybody froze and ignored the debris raining down. All eyes were on the Demolisher. He had approached, thrown a grenade up into the ceiling and fired at it with a gun causing the explosion.

"Now that I have your attention," the blood-red masked turtle growled, he was holding two guns and aimed them at everybody safe for the former overlord. "Mind getting this line going again and back to work?"

"The Robots will get on their feet on their own, they are programmed too anyway," ex-Emperor Donatello grunted and glared at their prisoners.

The Demolisher snorted and was about to back to the main entrance again, but a movement caught his attention. From the balcony came flying two shapes that landed with a thud on the either side of the hangar. The blood-red masked turtle sneered when seeing the two turtles jump to their feet, nunchakus spinning.

Then there was a panicked yell and two more shapes came flying from the balcony. Crashing to the floor, untied, came Bebop and Rocksteady. The two quickly scrambled to their legs.

"Hey try and hit me," Mikey shouted with a wide grin and immediately began moving around.

"No try hitting me," Michelangelo called from his end.

"No hit me, hit me," Bebop shouted and waved his arms, Rocksteady conked him on the head with his fists.

"Not us ya idiot, the toirtles, tell him to hit da toirtles," the rhino snapped.

"Oh right, hit da toirtles, the toirtles," the warthog said instead.

Growling the Demolisher aimed both his guns but couldn't really focus on one or two targets, since there were four them. He realized quickly that he couldn't hit the ninjas, for that they moved way too fast. Raphael aimed thus his gun at the rhino and warthog who both panicked and ran further into the hangar. The turtle began slowly backing towards the entrance but kept an eye on them. The former overlord had moved to the portal just to be on the safe side.

"If you don't stop this immediately…" the blood-red masked turtle stopped and turned. His eyes bulged out as the the cyborg suddenly burst through the entrance.

"Knock, knock," he said grinning maniacally with the organic part of his face.

 _Damn._ Leo noticed that the moment the mechanical turtle appeared the former emperor ducked through the portal.

"No don't follow him." The magistrate managed to grab Raph who had every intention to go and fetch the former overlord. "Trust me; Drerra has henchmen that can easily overpower you."

"So what's it going to be?" the cyborg addressed the Demolisher who still hadn't holstered his guns. The large turtle was now shielding Raphael and Leonardo. From the balcony came five more figures, the Donatellos, Deputy Michelangelo and Shredder who was now holding Krang's jar. The man put down the warlord before striking a battle pose alongside the four turtles.

"Careful, this guy is a deadly marksman," the magistrate said and indicated to the turtles that didn't have heavy body armor and the human. The Demolisher still had his guns up and ready, he could easily swiftly turn and shoot anybody he saw.

Nobody paid any attention to it that the robots had all gone through the portal, now only the turtles and the single human were in the hangar. That is until the blood-red masked turtle began looking around. His sneer changed into a smirk.

"Ok, I'm just going to go through that portal. Nice and easy, don't try to stop me and I won't pretend I'm in a shooting gallery," he said and began making his way slowly towards the portal.

"Don't move cyborg, you can't move fast enough to save all your friends," the Demolisher growled when seeing the mechanical turtle take a step forward. Cyborg Raphael got a signal from Leo to halt.

Suddenly laser beams just missed the Demolisher. Much further inside the hangar, Bebop and Rocksteady had reached a weapons locker and pulled out laser rifles from them. The two mutants had then immediately began shooting, aiming for the blood-red masked turtle.

The cyborg used the opportunity to form his own gun and fired. Demolisher was now being fired at from two directions. Raphael accelerated his pace towards the portal, firing from his own gun but the bullets just ricocheted from the cyborg's armor and the two mutants were far enough away to duck.

Then all of the sudden through the portal poured almost countless black uniformed figures. The immediately began shooting from laser rifles causing everybody safe for the Demolisher duck for cover. Several of these mysterious figures ran to the blood-red masked turtle and formed a shield around him.

"Get back, there are too many of them!" Leo shouted, when seeing that Raph and Casey were about ready to jump in and fight.

The former prisoners ran for the cyborg that gave them cover fire. The Michelangelos and the Donatellos had already exited the hangar once the laser began flying. Shredder grabbed Krang's jar and did the only sensible thing, duck behind the mechanical turtle.

Once the figures had everybody on the run, they immediately ran straight back for the portal with the Demolisher well guarded. As soon as the last one was through, the portal closed, leaving very bewildered turtles, humans, alien and other mutants behind.

"Jotians? The damn crazy bastard has the Jotian military helping her?" Magistrate Raphael was probably the most surprised of them all.

"Excuse me?" Leo asked. He and Raph were freeing Raphael and Leonardo from their bonds.

Before the magistrate could explain, two laser beams hit Cyborg Raphael's plastron and bounced off him. The cyborg looked towards the source, put hands on his hips and tapped one foot on the floor, looking very unimpressed.

"Uh, he did it," Rocksteady quickly hid the laser rifle behind his back and pointed at Bebop.

"Nuh huh, he did it," Bebop protested.

"Drop the guns and come over here, before I forget we made a temporary truce with your boss," the cyborg snapped. The mutants quickly nodded and threw their weapons away and approached with arms raised.

"So you were saying," Don looked at the magistrate, the turtles all kept an eye on the henchmutants, Shredder and Krang.

"Those guys were Jotian military personnel, or maybe Jotian pirates dressed as military personnel," the magistrate grunted gesturing to the where the portal had been.

"Who are you talking about?" the deputy asked.

"Drerra, Leo was selling those robots and other technology to Drerra." His very-dark green brother sighed and shook his head. He began rubbing his forehead tiredly. "This keeps getting better and better. I am not looking forward to next meeting with the I.D.A committee."

Leo nodded and gave those who didn't know the short version of what happened to his group and the Raphaels up in the main control room. Then told them how they had then been forced to work on those robots.

"So what now?" the cyborg wondered.

"How about you all get lost, you got want you wanted didn't you? The technodrome is stripped bare, I'll never be able to repair it now," Krang grumbled from his jar.

A thud from behind caught their attention. Everybody turned around. The portal had opened once more and in front of it was the assassin; he turned and smirked at the group.

"You guys might want to run. You see, some of the Foot soldier robots were planted with laser bombs and sent to different areas of the Technodrome. They will detonate in few minutes, obliterating this place," he said, then did a mock army salute and disappeared through the portal. It closed almost instantly.

"What? No! Not my Technodrome!" Krang cried out in alarm. The Shredder growled and shook his fist at the retreating shell of the assassin.

"That son of a…" the deputy remarked. The Ninja Master didn't waste a moment. From his dogi came his dimension traveler and he immediately operated it, opening a black portal. Everybody rushed through it.

Few minutes later, the large metal fortress was bathed in a bright white light. Once the light show subsided, there was nothing left safe for dents on the surface. Indicating where the huge structure had once stood.

Shortly afterwards a black portal opened over it and tossed through it came Shredder, Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady. The jar broke freeing the brain alien who now jumped up and down hopping mad.

"No Technodrome, no resources, how can I take over the world now?" he complained.

"Well we are alive aren't we?" Shredder grunted and rose up, paying no heed to it that he was still standing on top of the two mutants before stepping off them.

"What good will that do, without the Technodrome and our soldiers we can do nothing here," Krang snapped.

"Yes and if those two idiot had paid the right turtle, we actually might still have it!" Shredder glared at Rocksteady and Bebop who had risen up.

"Uh sorry boss, ya know how it is, all dese toirtles look alike to us," Rocksteady apologized.

"You'll be looking like Swiss cheese once I'm through with you!" the man growled and started to chase his henchmutants around in a large circle.

In the middle of it, Krang sighed, put one tentacle on his face and tapped the other one on the ground. He ignored the chase going in circles around him.

"That does it, I'm never outsourcing my revenges to other dimensions," he snorted and then glared at the others.

"Stop that nonsense and carry me, we got to find if there are some Rock Soldiers still around," he snapped at the man and the mutants.

* * *

 **Somewhere**

The former overlord of Turtotopia stood by the window and stared into the black empty space. He raised an eye-ridge, in shows and movies, they always showed the stars pass by the windows of the spaceships but he hardly saw a star at all.

 _Which is actually how it is or so I have heard,_ he thought.

The olive green turtle thought back to the events on the Technodrome. Knowing he had no fighting skills at all, Donatello had immediately made his escape when the cyborg came bursting through. The turtle knew all to well what his mechanical brother was capable of.

Once there he had of course explained the situation to the people on the other side. They had contacted the mother ship to get orders. Shortly later, a horde of personnel went through the portal to fetch the Demolisher. Few minutes after that, the assassin had arrived as well.

They were now somewhere in deep space in some unknown dimension. The assassin and the Demolisher acted though as if they were at home. Had gone straight to the captain of the vessel, while the ex-emperor was escorted to what looked to be quarters of some sort.

He sighed and began rubbing his left temple, right on the surgical scar. The turtle had never really gotten rid of that habit. This was once the place of the device that helped him temporarily subduing his mental illness. Then it had been removed and he had to relay on the drug completely, that is until he had by miracle stumbled on a cure.

 _I'm still so young… I'll soon by twenty what? Twenty two? Both the assassin and the Demolisher are older than me._ He sighed and shook his head. Then he walked to the single bed and sat on it.

 _Can't go back to Turtotop… Turtleland. I have a lifetime in prison sentence hanging over my head. My brother has no doubt both my daughter and wife and I'm stuck with that blasted black-clad maniac._ The ex-emperor lay down on the bed and stared at the steel ceiling above.

 _Oh well… at least I have the clon…the boys to look forward too, even though they will technically belong to the assassin. They will still be my sons, no matter what, even though they will have to call me uncle._ With that last thought, the former overlord drifted to sleep.

* * *

"So, we have nothing to worry about regarding Akre?" the assassin asked, staring at the view-screen in the captains office.

"Nothing at all, darling," Drerra said laughing and shook her head. "It's just going on around in the underground that he wants to hire the Demolisher for something."

"Well I was a little worried," the blood-red masked turtle muttered and stared down at his booted feet. He and Leonardo were alone in the office; the captain had to be on the bridge.

"The captain has confirmed to me that all the merchandise has been safely stored. As promised I'll transfer money to a secure account," the wolfoid said and smiled widely.

"Good, and thanks for the swift response from your people to get us out of there," the assassin mentioned with a smirk.

"Yes, you see I just couldn't see my darling Raphael getting sent to jail again. It just doesn't suit him and it's so fun making business with you Leonardo, you always deliver, it would be a bad move to let you get caught as well," Drerra said with a wink. The Demolisher coughed looking a bit embarrassed but the assassin just shrugged.

"When I make deals I see them through," he simply said.

"That you definitely do," the rymska giggled. "Oh well, until next time then I suppose. You still don't want me to contact Akre for you?"

"I'll handle that when the proper time comes," Assassin Leonardo said and frowned. "I'm afraid we need to wait for things to calm down for now. I must return to my world to make sure it stays ignorant of my activities."

"I understand. Wish I had your luxury, Leonardo, oh well. See you then, hope you will enjoy the hospitality of one of my ships." Drerra waved them before shutting off the connection.

"My darling Raphael?" the assassin looked at the Demolisher who cleared his throat and muttered something.

"No wait, on second thought I don't want to know," the assassin said and rose up from the table he had half sat on. "I don't think there is booze strong enough to erase that mental picture."

"So what now?" the blood-red masked turtle wondered once it was evident they wouldn't continue on that subject.

"We'll rest for a little while, then head to my mansion. We need to prepare for the clones to wake up, then we'll keep it quiet for now. We earned quite a bit of money through this operation," the black clad one told him.

"We wasted what, whole seven or eight months on this damn operation? We better have earned good money on this," the Demolisher grunted.

"Now I wouldn't call these months a waste," the assassin grinned strangely, the glint returned to his remaining eye.

* * *

 **2k3 TMNT-world**

Everybody was now gathered in the living room of the farmhouse. The letter and non-letter wearing turtles were seated on the floor. Deputy Mike was by the window, Ninja Master Donatello sat beside Luna on the couch and the older April sat there as well holding Michelle. Her younger counterpart was on the couch arm. Casey stood by the fireplace with the magistrate and the cyborg. The two Splinters occupied the two chairs.

The turtles and Casey had just roughly an hour ago returned from Dimension X. After having simply tossed Krang and his cronies back where they came from, they rested a bit and had something to drink. They were now telling what had occurred in that world.

"The distraction Casey and Raph caused helped us a great deal," Don told them when they reached the point of the rescue in the hangar. "We were trying to determine how the Michelangelos could distract the Demolisher. Or at leas have him walk away from Raphael and Leonardo. We also did agree to a temporary truce with Shredder and Krang so we could use Bebop and Rocksteady as well."

"Yeah that caused the Demolisher to walk away far enough for them to jump down and cause even further distraction, the cyborg had already found his way down to be able to enter the hangar on cue," Donatello added in.

"But I don't get it, what were they doing there in the first place?" the mechanical one grunted.

"They were stripping the technology from the Technodrome and they are going to sell it on the black market. And in a way they also did us a big favor," the magistrate mentioned. Everybody looked at him and there was a big silence.

"Come again?" Raph asked.

"All these robots will most likely be fixed up and sold as the cheapest labor there possibly is. Making slaves a very redundant source of labor. In other words these robots will help hurting the illegal slave trade industry the I.D.A, or the InterDimensional Alliance has been battling for centuries," Magistrate Raphael explained.

"Also they did our letter wearing counterparts a big favor; they got rid of the Technodrome and thus severely handicapped their traditional enemies. This fortress can now never be used again, it's been destroyed." The brown shirt-wearing turtle shook his head. "Not that I like to admit that."

"This has also answered a question that has been bothering me for a while. Bounty hunting and assassination only pays so much. I have always wondered were Leo gets some of his other cash, I guess this answers that. He undertakes a big operation like this one." The magistrate continued.

"Wait, you don't think all of this happened just because Leo wanted to get his hands on the technology in the Technodrome?" the deputy asked. There was a big heavy silence. The magistrate slowly turned his head towards his orange masked brother.

"Whoa, hold on, you are telling me that we went under five months of torture just so that idiot could take over the Technodrome?" Raphael exclaimed from the floor.

"That would indicate that our attack on the drome… was the distraction they needed to take it over from Krang and Shredder." Donatello's eye ridges rose skywards.

"DAMN!" Raph hammered his fist on the floor, causing Michelle to jump in her mother's arms. "We played right into it."

"So I was right in thinking that Leo went to Krang to offer his service, probably to scout the place out in the process," Deputy Michelangelo muttered.

"But what about this Akre that was mentioned," Leo wondered. "And those Jotians."

"I don't think we need to worry about Akre. It seems to be an isolated case. He's probably just trying to contact the Demolisher for something that is far outside my jurisdiction. I'll warn them at the I.D.A headquarters though. As for those Jotians, I'll report it to the right authorities to deal with them, this is one big mess we seem to have been partially involved in." The magistrate rubbed his right temple tiredly. The deputy patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

"Sooo, does that mean the assassin escaped again?" Mikey inquired, his brother's counterpart looked at him and folded his arms.

"Yeah, unless you can provide me with material evidences that he was in the Technodrome and/or involved with the kidnapping of our letter wearing counterparts. I'm afraid that even if I take their testimony against him, it will still be words against words. Trust me, Leo will provide alibis," the magistrate explained to him. "Still, you guys better give me that testimony, just in case. Who knows, maybe one day we'll be lucky."

Leo sighed and shook his head when learning that. Again his blasted counterpart had slipped through their fingers. He eyed the letter-wearing turtles and frowned, they didn't look too distraught or disappointed that their tormentor had escaped. Raph noticed this as well.

"You guys don't seem too distressed that he escaped," he commented.

"Oh that," Raphael shrugged and looked his brothers. Even Leonardo looked indifferent about it.

"You kind of develop this 'oh well, maybe next time' attitude after a while," Donatello told them. "After all, Shredder and Krang constantly escaped. Heck we even allowed them to escape this time around."

"And or almost every other enemy we encountered, with very few exceptions." Leonardo shook his head; he started to nervously rub one arm. "Though I wish this had been one of those few exceptions."

The attention was abruptly brought to the couch when Luna suddenly shrieked. The turtle woman was unwrapping the blanket of the egg, looking very alarmed.

"The egg is moving! The egg is mov…AH there is a crack in it!" she cried and was on verge of tears.

"Calm down dear, calm down. It's hatching," the older April said and stood up. She handed Michelle to her younger counterpart before approaching the cradle. The Ninja Master was trying to calm Luna down.

"Ok, we need towels and water, there is going to be coming a lot of goop soon," the older woman said looking around.

The turtles on the floor sprang to life, though only three of them rushed away, Leo, Don and Donatello. The others now stood and didn't really know what to do. However, the older April held out her hands against anybody who attempted to approach.

"Nobody come too close, we need space. Only the mother and the father should be over the egg while it's hatching," she instructed. Michelle began complaining in the younger April's arms, probably wanted to go back to her mother.

"April could you take Michelle outside please? Or the Michelangelos," the older woman asked. Her younger counterpart just nodded and started to walk out. Michelle then of course realized that she was not being handed to her mother, thus began screaming.

Before April could do anything, Michelangelo suddenly appeared and whisked the child out of her arms. He then disappeared with her outside with Mikey following. Michelle was so unprepared for this that her wails came to a halt. The woman followed outside and saw the turtle now busy pretending to let the child fly. Michelle had now completely forgotten her previous protests and was laughing. The cyborg appeared on the porch, just in case, the child could at least see one of her parents now.

"My counterpart seems to know a lot what to do in this situation." April looked at the mechanical turtle who nodded.

"April, my April did help a lot in the hospitals during the first year after my brother was overthrown. So she got quite a bit of insight how the Turtleland turtles are built and for one how childbirth works," he told her and glanced back. They could hear the woman give few more orders. Suddenly two of the Raphaels, the younger ones, came running outside with Casey.

"We decided it was best we stayed here… with you," Raphael said with a grin.

"In other words we were thrown out," Raph grunted and sat down on the porch, watching the Michelangelos play with Michelle.

"She's a…um," Casey halted and looked at the cyborg who was roughly his size but still could probably crush him. "Firm!"

"Why do you think I married her," the mechanical turtle said with a grin.

"So how long does this egg take to hatch?" Raphael asked and eyed his mechanical counterpart.

"Depends really, but most no more than about an hour," the cyborg answered.

Silence commenced on the porch. The only sound was now the laughter on the driveway where the Michelangelos were now chasing Michelle around and the occasional orders heard from inside. Then the door opened once more and the magistrate and the deputy stepped outside.

"Kicked out," was the mask-less turtle's response before anybody could ask.

"How far was the kid out," the cyborg asked his counterpart.

"The head managed to break through and one arm. I was surprised to see an egg tooth," the magistrate said and pointed at a spot on the middle of his beak.

"Well the kid has to get out of the egg somehow," the mechanical turtle said grinning.

"Egg tooth?" Casey inquired confused.

"A small horn that forms on young reptiles and birds in the egg, they use it to break free from it. For some species it falls off, others it's just skin that's sink back down into the snout. It looked like bone to me, so I think this one will fall off," the magistrate explained.

"I can't get over all that green-brown slime or whatever it was that came out of the egg as well," the deputy said grimacing a bit.

"Goop, it's simply called goop," the cyborg supplied. "Protects the kid inside the egg."

"Did you see what color it was? Luna was bit worried about that," April asked. Both the magistrate and the deputy looked at each other before eyeing the woman.

"It was impossible to tell, while the kid was covered in that goop. We'll know soon enough," Magistrate Raphael answered.

It was then that everybody noticed that there was silence from the house. However, it ended suddenly by a very powerful cry. Michelle jumped when hearing it, flew into Michelangelo's arms and stared frightened at the house. The newborn had hatched and was by the looks of it letting the whole world know. After few minutes it died down as the parents managed to calm it down.

Suddenly the older April opened the door, her expression was neutral but the cyborg caught something in her eyes. She was hiding something, but the mechanical turtle didn't say a word, allowed his wife to speak.

"You can come in now," she said and smiled nervously.

The group on the porch began filing in. Luna sat on the couch and held the newborn blanket wrapped child in her arms, but the Ninja Master was not sitting beside her; he stood by fireplace with his back turned to everybody. The two older rats still sat on their chairs but they looked both worried.

Luna seemed to be trying to fight back her tears as she looked at the incoming group. Yet she managed to smile weakly and presented her newly hatched son. The magistrate and the deputy were the first ones to notice what the apparent problem was in the living room.

The infant was basic green.

 **End chapter 22**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 30/07 2006.

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

 **2k3 TMNT-world**

"He's beautiful," April commented watching the now sleeping turtle child wrapped in his mother's arms.

"Thank you," Luna whispered, she held her son close and was still trying not to cry. The sorrow shone from her already sad eyes.

"What will he be called?" the human asked.

"Apollo, Donatello selected the name if it was a boy. He'll be named Apollo," the turtle woman answered.

Things had gone from uncomfortable to worse shortly after everyone came in to see the newly hatched young. The Ninja Master had stormed out, since he had his mask on it was impossible to read his expression. He was now on the porch and the magistrate and the deputy were trying to talk with him.

Once more the Michelangelos were enlisted to keep Michelle occupied, the two orange masked turtles took the little girl to the attic. The rest was in the living room but the silence was uncomfortable, nobody really knew what to say. April had in the end sat down beside Luna and talked with her, but the turtle only answered some questions but was otherwise silent.

The front door opened and everyone safe for Luna looked up. Magistrate Raphael walked in and let out a heavy sigh. He walked to the turtle woman and stood in front of her. He put one hand on her shoulder and then cupped her cheek with the other, lifting the head so the woman looked at him.

"It's going to be ok Luna," he said and smiled an encouraging smile.

"Really?" she whispered, now first did few tears escape from her eyes.

"Yes," the magistrate said and let go of her cheek, he then wiped the tears from her face.

"Don is not blaming the kid at all. He knows it's not the kid's fault who the 'father' is. My guess is he was more shocked than he figured he would be," Magistrate Raphael told her, keeping the tone of his voice gentle. He squeezed her shoulder gently before letting go and turned to face the others.

"Mike is talking with Don, he's the best bet now," he told them and eyed the front door. He couldn't see outside where the Ninja Master and the deputy were.

* * *

"You know… he could have dumped him 28 years ago," Deputy Michelangelo said, he was sitting on the bench. His brother stood by the railing of the porch and stared forward motionless.

"He wasn't blood related; heck he wasn't even the same species. But he didn't Don, Splinter raised Leo. Then he found Raph and took him in as well. Then he found us, did he ignore us? No he took us in," the gray vest wearing turtle continued when there was no hand movement from his brother. "I know… know you hate Leo and you have disowned him as your brother. But don't take it on the kid. He didn't ask to be born."

The Ninja Master did a movement that was as if he had just sighed heavily. Then he raised his left hand and removed the mask. However, the turtle didn't turn around, kept staring into the distance. The deputy frowned; there was something different about this scenario than he had previously thought. He leaned forward a bit to try to see his brother's face and his jaw dropped. Tears streamed down Donatello's cheeks. The dogi-clad turtle was crying.

"Bro?" Deputy Mike rose up from the bench and approached his brother. He put a hand on Donatello's shoulder. "Don, you're crying."

Donatello looked at him; the tears seemed to be out of control. They flooded down his cheeks. Suddenly the turtle turned to face his brother and grabbed him in a tight hug. There he continued to cry on his shoulder, sounds actually escaping from his throat that could be sobs.

"Hey, hey, it's ok bro. What's the matter… I…" the deputy hesitated for a moment. "I haven't seen you cry for over… ten years."

The dogi wearing turtle hugged his brother even tighter before finally letting go of him. Then backed a little but grabbed Mike's shoulder with the left hand, but put his right arm on the other one. For a moment the tearful ninja just stared at his brother before lifting his left hand and did a signal.

 _I'm afraid, Mike._

"A-afraid?" his twin frowned, that was a confession he never expected to hear from Ninja Master Donatello. The olive green one nodded and did another signal.

 _I'm afraid… what he will do when he finds out._

"Who? Leo?" Deputy Michelangelo frowned when his brother nodded. He didn't stop crying but signaled for the third time.

 _I fear he will take my son away._

Deputy Mike had to restrain himself. He actually hadn't expected his brother to say that. So that had been what was wrong, it was still in a way because the infant had different color but for a totally another reason. The Ninja Master had never once thought of the kid as otherwise but his child. However, the reality had struck him hard when the child had the basic green color, stating who the biological father was. It meant the horrific possibility that the assassin could try to take the child.

 _If he finds out… and that is just a question of time, we can't hide it forever,_ the deputy thought.

"Hey Don, we won't let that happen," he then said and patted his brother on the shoulder, his eyes narrowing on the tearstained face of the Ninja Master. "It will not happen."

 _He took my brother, he took my tongue and he took my hand,_ the Ninja Master signaled with his left hand. Referring that he felt the assassin had pretty much killed the Leonardo they once knew.

 _But he will take my heart if he takes my son._

"It will not happen. I'm sure Raphael can pull the right strings. I'm sure there is something that can be done," the deputy said and the brothers embraced each other again.

"Come one, we have to clear a little misunderstanding. Let's go see Luna and the kid," the gray-vest turtle said. He could feel his brother suddenly freeze up, as if he had suddenly realized something.

The Ninja Master immediately slipped out of his brother's arms and rushed inside. He ignored the surprised and confused stares from everybody and went straight to Luna. He pushed the magistrate out of his way and fell to his knees in front of the turtle woman.

 _I am sorry,_ he signaled and then hugged her, being mindful of the infant she held. Then April was forced to move aside as the turtle rose up from the floor to sit next to his wife.

"Ok, did I miss something?" the magistrate approached the deputy but kept and eye on his dogi-clad brother. The Ninja Master now had his right arm around Luna's shoulder. The woman had gotten over the surprise and was now smiling though her eyes still looked a bit sad.

"Um, we misunderstood the situation," Deputy Michelangelo said in a low tone. Then he explained to his brother what had exactly happened.

"Oh." Magistrate Raphael grabbed his beak and nodded. "I see, yes, that is reason to be frightened."

"But we can prevent that right?" the deputy asked.

"Well… it's not that simple Mike," the magistrate whispered and eyed the couple on the couch. The infant had now been transferred to their brother. Luna was leaning up against the Ninja Master and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Leo is the biological father… he can claim the kid if he goes to court… and because the public is on his side…" the mask-less turtle fell silent. "He could easily win this case. You see, the kid is only legally Donatello's as long as the biological father doesn't pop up and make his claim."

"Crap," the deputy sighed and shook his head.

"But I'll do everything I can," the magistrate claimed.

* * *

 **Assassin's world**

"Ah it is good to be home," the assassin said and stretched his arms high while walking out of the room the portal had formed in.

"Well your home at least," the Demolisher muttered. The only one to make no remark was the former overlord. He followed the two turtles for a while after the corridor but then turned into another direction.

"Tony!" the black-masked turtle called as he entered the main hall. Almost immediately his human servant appeared.

"Yes master!" Tony bowed low for the turtle.

"I hope you are preparing a feast tonight, our mission was a complete success," the assassin said.

"I'll began preparing it immediately, sir," the human said and turned away towards the kitchen.

The assassin nodded pleased and turned towards the stair leading up. The Demolisher was already on his way to the second floor. The black-masked turtle scratched his head while wondering what exactly to do, one thing was for sure, he could use a shower. He was about to head up when the communicator on his belt beeped.

"Yes," he spoke into the device after operating it.

"It's Donatello, you might want to come down into the basement lab," the voice of the ex-emperor emerged from the device.

"Is it really important?" Leonardo grunted.

"You might say that," the former overlord said.

 _It had better be,_ the assassin shook his head. "Hey Raphael, his majesty wants us in the lab."

"What?" the Demolisher appeared in the stairway but didn't get response, the black-masked turtle was already on his way to the hallway. Sighing in frustration the blood-red masked turtle hurried down to the first floor and followed his employer.

They appeared shortly later in the lab and saw the former overlord by the stasis tubes. The olive green turtle turned when hearing them walk in. There was a slight smirk on his beak.

"What is so damn important," the black-masked turtle grunted.

"The clones are ready," Donatello said.

"You mean they are ready to wake up?" Leonardo's eye ridge rose but grinned when the ex-emperor nodded.

"I'll wake up the older clone first; he will look at the younger one as his brother and thus will be ready to comfort him if necessary. Well comfort him as a child can," Donatello said. "Now remember, they don't know they are clones. They think they were in a medical test and are waking up from that. They will expect you to recognize them."

"Yes, yes, the older is Silver and the younger is Obsidian. I got them off from the streets, don't worry, I have been play acting for a whole world for a while. I think I can take care of two brats," the assassin snorted. "Wake them up."

The former overlord walked to the slightly bigger tube and began working on the many buttons on it. Then it slowly began to open with a steamy hiss. The glow diminished and they could hear it power down. The ex-emperor reached inside and began disconnecting something there.

The assassin folded his arms and waited. Suddenly there came a slight whimpering sound from the tube. A small three-fingered hand peeked up for a moment. The former overlord actually smiled now and was speaking softly to the tube's occupant. Then slowly he helped the clone to sit up.

Silver was bluish green, though the color was much darker than had been on Mikey. His plastron was in a darker shade. Otherwise, his physical appearance was like Mikey's when the ninja had been five years old. The small child stared tiredly and a bit frightened around. He was picked up by the ex-emperor and carried towards the assassin and the Demolisher.

"Here he is, good and ready," Donatello said and presented the child to the two turtles. Silver stared back at them, a bit shyly at Raphael but then his gaze moved to Leonardo. Suddenly the clone held out his hands towards the assassin.

Leonardo took the hint and grabbed the child from the ex-emperor. He was a bit surprised that Silver clung tightly to him, but didn't show it outwardly. The black-masked one just held the kid as if he had always done it before.

"You save us," he heard the child whisper. Then Silver looked at the assassin. "You take Obsidian and me from bad place."

"Yeah I did," the assassin complied with a nod. "I'm going to be your new daddy now."

"You are?" the small turtle seemed to lighten up at hearing that.

"Yeah, and this is your Uncle Raphael over here and Uncle Donatello is waking up Obsidian as we speak," the black masked one said. Silver looked first at the Demolisher who had raised an eye ridge at being called uncle. Then the child looked back where the former overlord worked on the other tube.

"Obsidian there?" the child asked.

"Yep, he'll be here soon," Leonardo answered.

Like the other one the tube opened with a steamy hiss. Donatello disconnected something inside and shortly later there was a small whimper. This time the olive green turtle lifted the clone straight up from the tube instead of sitting him up.

Obsidian was dark green, not as dark as the Demolisher but close. His plastron and carapace otherwise resembled the M-wearing turtle's, except slightly darker in color. His features as well did resemble Michelangelo, yet there were differences, probably mostly do to the genetic tweaking.

Unlike Silver, the younger clone huddled himself close in Donatello's arms. Burying his face in the black shirt the olive-green turtle was now wearing. The ex-emperor walked with the child to the others. Silver reached out to pat his frightened brother on the carapace.

"It's ok Obsidian, we gots a new daddy now," the child said. Leonardo smirked, then he let Silver slide down to the floor. The kid was a little unsteady and grabbed a hold on the assassin's leg for support.

The black masked turtle ignored it for now. He instead reached for Obsidian. Donatello let go of the child and it was transferred to the assassin. The youngest didn't protest but did stare a bit frightful at adult turtle now holding him.

"Hey it's ok, don't you remember me? I got you and your brother from the bad place," Leonardo said calmly. Then he crouched down with Obsidian so the kid could see Silver. That seemed to calm the younger turtle down.

"See Obi, we gots a family now," Silver whispered to his 'brother'. He was the only one who sounded really excited. Obsidian still looked a bit unsure and frightened.

"Maybe we should take them upstairs, let them see around," the ex-emperor suggested.

"Splendid idea and I have to begin the necessary preparation. Ah this will be even more perfect than I realized, their wake up timing couldn't have been better," the assassin said. Neither of the children seemed too interested in what was being said. Silver was already approaching Raphael, though his walking was still a little wobbly.

"You Uncle Raphael?" he asked staring up at the turtle.

"Yeah, I guess so," the Demolisher grunted and folded his arms.

"What's that?" Silver pointed at a grenade on his belt.

"Something Uncle Raphael is going to keep out of reach from now on," the former overlord suddenly appeared behind the kid. He pulled Silver a bit back before the boy had any chance to come near the explosive.

"Careful Raphael," the assassin chuckled as he made his way towards the entrance holding Obsidian. "I think Donatello has a mother-hen mode now."

* * *

 _Few days later._

The magistrate sighed as he knocked on the door of the house. Shortly later it was opened by the Ninja Master. The olive green turtle was for once not wearing his dogi uniform safe for the pants, he had dark gray shirt on.

"Well as long as 'you know how' doesn't butt in, everything is legal," Raphael said as he was invited inside.

 _Thanks,_ his brother signaled. They walked into the living room where Deputy Michelangelo sat on the couch. In his arms was baby Apollo. Luna sat on a chair close by but stood up when the two others arrived.

"So?" the deputy inquired.

"Well, like I told Don. As long as the 'biological father' doesn't makes his claims. The kid is legally his," the Magistrate Raphael explained, he hugged Luna briefly before sitting down beside Michelangelo. The turtle woman sat back down and Don got seated in a chair beside her.

"Well that's something at least," Mike muttered and glanced at the sleeping kid in his arms.

"Did you take the letter wearing ones back to their world today?" the magistrate asked the Ninja Master who nodded.

 _I worked also with both my younger counterparts to stabilize a device the D-wearing one had built. It's called a portable portal generator and can open a portal to travel between worlds. The two are already working on making a copy of it. They are apparently going to stay in contact,_ the olive green turtle then signaled.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised, these two set of counterparts seemed to hit off well together. Of course considering all that happened for the past few months it's understandable," Raphael said and nodded.

"But now life is turning back to normal, or as normal as it can be," the deputy said and transferred the child to Luna, getting slightly tired of holding him.

"Which reminds me." The magistrate began looking around and found the remote to the television. "Can I check on something?"

He got a positive nod from his brother and thus turned on the set. The turtle began flipping quickly between the channels and ended up on a news channel. Everyone in the living room, safe the child, now watched the TV. Three of them wondering what had the oldest turtle in the room so interested.

"…In more off worldly news. The Ru'uian government has begun an investigation of Jotian military presence in another world after a tip from the Interdimensional Magistrate Raphael Hamato. The Jotians are not part of the Interdimensional Alliance, but have a treaty signed with Ru'u about non-military movements in other dimensions…"

"Wait, there will nothing really come out of this. I mean we saw those personnel for what, half a minute?" the deputy looked at the magistrate.

"Exactly, all I did was reporting to the Ru'uians that on a personal mission I had encountered what looked like Jotian military. But did not dismiss the possibility that these were pirates." Raphael shook his head.

"Oh well, I just wanted to see how much they would exaggerate," he shrugged and was about to turn off the TV when Mike suddenly grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"I can't believe it." He was staring at the TV screen. Again the attention was on the set.

The news had apparently switched back to local news. On the screen was a small sign claiming it was live. What they were staring at was a news reporter standing by the steps of a courthouse. Walking down was Assassin Leonardo and it was who were with him that had grabbed everyone's attention. They had just missed the introduction of the reporter.

"…in Manhattan. Walking down is none other than Hamato Leonardo, the famous bounty hunter." The reporter then quickly approached the black-clad turtle.

"Mister Leonardo, you wouldn't mind telling us who those two are?" she asked and gestured to the small dark green turtle Leonardo was holding in his arms, then the dark bluish-green turtle standing beside him, holding his hand.

"I don't mind at all," the assassin said with a wide friendly smile.

"These are Obsidian," he said and looked at the smaller child he was holding. Obsidian was very camera-shy; the moment the attention was on him he buries his face in Leonardo's black shirt and seemed to try to shrink from view.

"And Silver," Leonardo chuckled and pulled the bigger child gently forward.

"I was on a job elsewhere few days ago and came across these two children. They were just wandering the streets, lost and hungry. I checked around and found out that their parents were dead. I decided to offer them a home with me, we were just finishing all the adoption papers," the assassin explained to the reporter.

"Wow so they are now legally your sons?" the reporter asked sounding very impressed. The turtle nodded with a smile. "But won't it be difficult, since your job takes you to other worlds."

"Not in the least, I have Tony my servant who is very good with children. I have also recruited help from two friends of mine who will help from time to time," the black masked turtle explained.

"Was it on this same job you found the boys that you lost your eye?" the reporter asked noticing the dark hole where the left eye should have been.

"Yes unfortunately. Bounty hunting can be very dangerous, some criminals will stop at nothing to escape justice," Leonardo said and looked down at Silver who was starting to get a little impatient.

"So little guy, I take it you are going to live in a big house now," the reporter crouched down to interview Silver.

"Yeah, we live with daddy and Tony," the little turtle said with a nod.

"I hate to cut this short. But it's been a long day for the children and I had promised to take them to the Ice-Cream Palace," Leonardo said suddenly and the reporter stood up.

"Well we can't let a promising father go behind on his promises. Thanks for your time and congratulation," the reporter said.

"Thank you as well," Leonardo said and continued his walk with two boys.

Before the reporter turned to the camera, Magistrate Raphael had already hit the off button on the remote. There was now a stunned silence in the living room. Then everybody looked at each other, there was even visible surprise on Donatello.

"Tell me I didn't see, what I just saw," the magistrate said.

"Wish I could," the deputy muttered but then frowned. "Who were those kids… there was something familiar about them."

"The smaller one, Obsidian had features that reminded me of our letter wearing counterparts," Raphael said with a heavy thoughtful frown. "But Silver had features that are more like ours and our non-letter wearing counterparts."

"They can't possibly be brothers but yet… Leo seemed hint at that," Mike looked at Donatello whose brow was now sunken in heavy thought.

 _I recall Mikey and Michelangelo mention something about cloning. That samples were extracted from them to be used to clone them,_ the normally dogi clad turtle signaled.

 _And my ex-emperor counterpart apparently has a great deal of experience with cloning. Or so I understand from my teenage non-letter wearing counterpart,_ he continued and for a moment didn't move as he was thinking.

 _They were both though darker in color; it's quite possible that their genes were tweaked. I wouldn't be surprised that these were the clones of Mikey and Michelangelo,_ he concluded.

"But wouldn't they know that?" the deputy asked confused. His brother shook his head.

 _Not necessarily. The mind can be fed information, led to believe certain things happened. And it's even easier on a child whose mind is still developing. They could have fed anything to these clones and it comes out as truth for them,_ Donatello explained.

"And he has adopted them as his sons, great just great," the magistrate grunted.

"Those two friends he mentioned, who want's to bet it was the Demolisher and the ex-emperor he was talking about," the deputy snorted.

"No contests about that," Magistrate Raphael claimed.

"You think we should let my counterparts know?" Mike wondered.

"Well they are coming to the barbeque tonight with the others, right?" Raphael looked at Donatello and Luna, they both nodded.

"I'll probably let them know then," the magistrate said.

 **End chapter 23**


	24. Epilogue

**A/N:** Chapter originally written and posted on 30/07 2006

* * *

 **Epilogue**

 **80's TMNT world**

"What? You are packing?" Michelangelo noticed that Raphael was putting things in a bag.

"Yep," the R-clad turtle answered. "Going with Mona Lisa on her next trip, I'm going to meet her at our usual place."

"Oh ok," the orange masked one raised an eye ridge. "I guess we do kind of need a vacation."

"Yes." His red clad brother agreed and closed the bag. He sat down on his bed and looked Michelangelo. "I think Leonardo is going with Splinter on his next retreat."

"Yeah, he mentioned that. The dude is still recovering," the M-wearing turtle nodded, he glanced around the room.

Unlike their counterparts who had their own rooms, it was more like a single room with four tunnel sections each turtle had claimed as if the tunnels were rooms. Michelangelo was currently leaning on the tunnel edge belonging to Raphael.

"Donatello was going to continue some work with his counterpart, but they decided to postpone it for now." Raphael sighed and stood up from the bed and shouldered the bag. "What are you going to do?"

"I guess just the usual, sewerskating, pizza, TV," Michelangelo shrugged but then grinned. "Made a bet with my counterpart."

"Oh no," the R-wearing turtle palmed his face. "Dare I ask?"

"Who can come up with the grossest pizza topping and then eat it," the M-clad one chuckled.

"You win, no contest," Raphael snickered. Then he patted his brother on the shoulder. "Well I gotta go, see in you a month."

"Take care bud," Michelangelo said and watched his brother leave the lair.

The M-clad turtle sighed and walked to the kitchen. The lair was strangely empty and the ninja wondered if this was how Splinter had felt during the five months they were missing. Last night had been fun though, they had gone to the world were the Magistrate and the others lived and had a barbeque.

There Michelangelo had learned that he had been cloned, but it was a roughly three-year-old kid. So the turtle didn't feel like worrying too much about it. Instead he had enjoyed meeting everybody again, especially baby Michelle. It had been really hard to say good bye to her. But she was officially a nice of his counterpart, he could much more easily visit. That was some comfort.

After some thought the turtle decided to bake a pizza, after all he had a bet to try to win.

* * *

 **Turtleland**

"I didn't change the marker," the cyborg said, he stood in the living room of his own home. April was in the couch playing with Michelle.

"Why not?" she asked.

"In a way he is dead," Raphael said and stared out of the window. "The Donatello I knew is. Even though he said he was sorry, he still didn't feel remorse for his other crimes. He only regretted what he did to us, his brothers."

The mechanical turtle turned to look at his wife. April was play fighting with Michelle and currently the little girl was pinned squealing down on the cushions. A small smile crept over the organic part of his mouth.

"But at least he left something good with us," he said.

"That much is true," April said and let the girl go. She immediately tried her best to retaliate against her mother and grabbed her arm with both hands and legs.

"Ah, Michelle." The woman laughed when the girl grabbed part of her mother's blouse in her mouth and pretended to growl.

"That girl has some serious issues with clothes," the cyborg chuckled when seeing a nice portion of April's sleeve was now covered in drool. His wife glared at him but then simply continued to play with her daughter.

Raphael chuckled again and then turned back to the window. His thoughts were brought back to the past days. He had to admit that for him it had been mostly fun, it was seldom he got to use his abilities to help. Of course it hadn't exactly been fun for his counterparts and their brothers. He had offered all the support he could.

Then he recalled the message from his brother. That caused him to access the file he had stored in the computer brain in his skull. He replayed the message and didn't realize that he let out a heavy sigh.

"Something wrong?" his wife wondered.

"No… nothing, just thinking," the cyborg claimed and glanced back. "Just wishing… that Leo was here."

* * *

 **Assassin's world**

"I have been thinking," Magistrate Raphael said while drinking from his coffee cup.

"What?" Deputy Michelangelo asked and took a bite of his bagel. He and the magistrate were eating a light lunch in a nearby diner.

"Well more like wondering," his brother confessed and put the cup down. "Leo only does something if it is in his own best interest."

"True," Mike nodded and drank from his glass. "Why?"

"I don't think Don has to worry about Leo trying to take Apollo," Raphael said and finished his sandwich.

"How do you figure?" Michelangelo frowned.

"By the looks of it, he's going to raise those clones as his own kids. That it self is no small feat, especially for him since he has so much to cover. I think even he would see adding the third kid would just be disastrous for him," the magistrate pointed out.

"Point," the deputy nodded and glanced around. There weren't many in the diner this midday.

"Leo isn't stupid; sure he would probably enjoy crushing Don in court and take the kid. But he is a 'on the long run' thinking type. He also strives to look good on the surface, what better than to look good but to allow his brother to raise the kid in peace," Raphael then said and shrugged.

"Good point again," his brother agreed.

"Still it is a frightening thought," Raphael said and again the deputy nodded.

* * *

Demolisher Raphael stared out of the window. In one hand was a beer can and occasionally the turtle would take a sip from it. He had been there for awhile, not really knowing why. Suddenly he turned around and his eyes narrowed.

"What do ya want?" he asked sharply. Standing in the doorway was one of the clones. The older one, Silver, he had been dressed in pajamas as it was getting late and soon time for bed.

"Daddy says I says goodnight, Obi too but he's too shy," the boy stated and stared up at the turtle.

"Really," Raphael grunted and took another sip from his can. "Look kid, my bedroom is off limits. Not only would your other 'uncle' and dad kill me if ya got into the explosives, but I don't want a kid snooping around here."

"Okay Uncle Raphael," Silver nodded and stepped back out of the doorway and now stood in the hallway.

"Well what now?" the Demolisher didn't see that the boy was going anywhere, just stood there.

"Goodnight Uncle Raphael," the kid said and ran out of view.

 _Weird kid._ Raphael shook his head and turned back to the window. It had been crazy ever since the clones had been awoken. The explosives lab now had a lock, as did the ex-emperor's lab, the training and weapons room. The Demolisher had keys now to the explosives lab and the training room.

The ex-emperor was pretty much mapping the whole mansion. Making sure that the places the kids could enter, had nothing that could harm them. First the assassin hadn't been too pleased about the process. However, Donatello won him over, when he explained to him in detail what a curious kid could do and in how many ways it could die. So much then for potential heirs to his legacy and of course now they were all under strict orders to lock their bedrooms when not in them.

 _Oh well, it beats prison._ The Demolisher shook his head and finished the beer can. Then he reached into a cooling box and got another can.

* * *

 **2k3 TMNT-world**

"Man I am glad this mess is over," Raph grunted as he was punching on his bag. "I just hope we can get some peace now."

"I'm inclined to agree," Leo nodded; he was busy doing a kata close by on the training mat.

"But can you believe the luck? First our counterparts are kidnapped and then Mikey is kidnapped. In the process of rescuing them, Donny's counterpart loses his hand. Then when the cyborg, the deputy and I go and rescue the magistrate, I get shot in the leg and the magistrate as well," Raph recapped and then did a vicious kick on the bag. He stopped for a moment and glanced at his blue-masked brother.

"And in that blasted Technodrome we both get captured. I fell for the oldest trick in the book," he growled and resumed punching the bag.

"Well, you couldn't really be blamed Raph. His voice is pretty much like mine, just has a more growling feel to it. But he apparently has no problems changing it to match mine," Leo said and stopped in his practice and sheathed the swords.

"Yeah but it still stinks," his red masked brother snorted.

"I don't feel much better. I got caught because I was careless. I was just going to rush ahead, I didn't check my surroundings. I should have been aware of the ex-emperor there," Leonardo said.

"Guess we all did some mistakes," Raph said and stopped again on the workout. He began rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced at his brother.

"We have asked the question two times now, you think it would matter to ask the third?" he then wondered.

"What question? Oh if we will meet the assassin again?" Leo grinned. "Wish the answer is no, but like it has been usually, the answer is probably definitely."

"Yeah, I figured," Raphael muttered and walked were his water bottle was and picked it up.

"Well I guess we can enjoy the peace for now," Leo said and walked towards the entertainment area.

"Yeah as long as nothing catastrophic happens," Don shot in from his work corner where he worked on some device.

"Where is Mikey?" Raph asked as he came to the entertainment area, occasionally sipping on his water bottle.

"Trying to win his bet with Michelangelo," Donatello explained. "In other words he is in the kitchen."

"Right," the red masked turtle said, remembering now the bet his brother had made with his counterpart. He sat down on the couch.

"Well, I hope we don't have to participate in eating that trash," he muttered and used the remote to turn on the televisions.

 _Few weeks later, the events of Exodus occur._

 **The End**


End file.
